ROLAND GARROS

May 22, 2026

Aryna Sabalenka

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Aryna, welcome back to Paris. Just talk us through your preparation and how you're feeling so far.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, I'm super happy to be back. I'm definitely feeling much better physically and mentally, so I'm super excited to start playing here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. There has been talk there's reduction on players' media commitments. What's your take on that, how involved you were, and what your main objectives are from these initiatives, these player-led initiatives?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, guys, I feel like the whole point here, it's not about me. It's about the players who's lower in the ranking, who is suffering, and, yeah, it's not easy to live in this tennis world with that percentage that we are earning.

But as the World No. 1, I feel like, you know, I have to stand up and to fight for those players, for lower-level players, for players who are coming back after injuries, the upcoming generation. I feel like our point is pretty clear and pretty fair to everyone.

That's what we are all about.

Q. Any advance on the kind of boycott that was mentioned in Rome?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I stand with my words. We wanted to do it in a respectful way at the beginning, and you guys know how much we respect you and we appreciate you. It's not your decision, it's not about you. It's just we are trying to fight for a fair percentage.

Q. You said you're feeling a lot better physically. Do you feel 100% physically in terms of what you were experiencing Rome?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yeah, I struggled the beginning of the clay court physically, to be honest, but right now I feel 100%. We did a great recovery. We focused on recovery and make sure that I'm healed everywhere and I'm ready to go. Right now, as I said, physically I'm ready to go.

Q. Another hot topic over the years was the role of the women in tennis compared to the men, also with prize money and so on. How do you feel over the years, the role of women's tennis has grown? I see here this year's exhibition of women's tennis at the museum. What do you think of this topic? Is this going into the right direction?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, yeah, we definitely going into the right direction, and as had been said before, we deserve equal prize money and it's already happening, and we really appreciate it, because I feel like as a woman we really sacrifice a lot and we put a lot to be here.

I'm really happy to see that we are moving towards right direction.

Q. You have always talked about being an emotional player. In your effort to get control and get focused and use your emotions to improve yourself, was that more to sort of improve your own tennis or to not show the opponent exactly how you were feeling and what the effect of it has been?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Say it again?

Q. Okay, so when you show your emotions on court, like when you feel like you're not playing well, you do it a little less than you used to do, I think.

ARYNA SABALENKA: Yes, yes.

Q. Was that to improve how you were playing, or...

ARYNA SABALENKA: Why I focused on improving that part of the game?

Q. Yeah. Or also, did it have anything to do with not wanting to show your opponent too much?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Sorry, I missed it.

Well, I think my emotions were destroying my game, and my level was dropping dramatically when I would just, like, start overreacting on everything. And also, at the same time, my opponents would see that and they would step in and play better. So it was kind of, like, both at the same time.

First of all, making sure that my opponent doesn't see what's going on in my head, and at the same time, to perform better and to stay in the zone, you know, like it was a huge improvement over the years in my career and really helped me to level up.

Q. You're a player that's quite comfortable...

ARYNA SABALENKA: I don't see you. Sorry.

Q. Here. You're quite comfortable hitting with some of your biggest rivals, the likes of Elena or Iga, heading into a slam. In the past, this wasn't so common that the Grand Slam champions or the leading contenders would practice together. Why do you think this has changed and what makes you so comfortable about it?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I don't know. I feel like nowadays we're all better with each other, and we're good with each other. We are communicating much better, and I feel like over the years, we improved in that side to go there on practice court and practice with your rivalries and to, I don't know, be better.

So I think it's all because we're better with each other overall, so we communicate more and we open to practice and to improve ourselves. I think that's why.

Q. Just wanted to ask, obviously you haven't had as many matches on clay as maybe you have had in past years and had as many wins. Obviously you're still No. 1. Are your expectations for this tournament at all different because of the injuries you have had because of the record you have had on clay? Or are you still basically here for the trophy and nothing else?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think all of us are here just for one reason, you know. Doesn't matter if I didn't play a lot of matches on the clay court. I know that, I know how to play on clay, and it's all about being physically and mentally healthy, to go for it, and to be ready to fight.

All I can say that I'm ready to fight, and of course I hope to do a little bit better than I did last year.

Q. You and the top players have been constantly pushing and having to adjust to each other's games. How do you balance kind of working on your own game versus adjusting to your opponents' games?

ARYNA SABALENKA: I think mostly I'm focusing on myself and making sure that I have all of the tools that I'll need to play against all of the players. I think focusing on myself really helped me to be able to be able to adjust to each player.

So I think mainly I'm focusing on myself and making sure that I'm good with any shot selection I might need in the match.

Q. I just wanted to ask you how you're using your 15-minute window today, how much in this room and if you're on the clock and what else will you do?

ARYNA SABALENKA: No, guys I'm not on the clock, but we just wanted, you know, to be, to make our point, and we are united, and 15 minutes better than 0, and I'm here to talk to you because I have my respect to you guys.

I guess we just do 10 minutes here and 5 minutes -- what is the 5 minutes that we did, World Feed? That's it.

And now it's time for national language, and thank you so much for being here, for asking questions. As I said a thousand times today, I have huge respect, but we know what's happening here, so thank you so much.