Posted by Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday January 10, 2025
As the most dominant court player of all time in the women’s game, and the two-time defending Australian Open champion, expectations are as high as ever Aryna Sabalenka this year in Melbourne.
But the three-time major champion doesn’t want to focus on that. He just wants to make things match the game and stay in his happy place.
“I don’t want to think too much about that,” the top seed said at Friday’s news day at the Australian Open. “I just want to do my job. I hope that at the end of this tournament I will be very proud of myself and I will be able to put my name in history.”
No. 1-ranked Sabalenka, who will face American Sloane Stephens in the first round, says she has no problem with the rest of the tour. He says playing with a target on his back is where he wants to be.
“I always liked to accept difficult challenges,” he said. “Because I’m chasing you, I love you. I love that feeling. That’s what drives me and helps me stay motivated because I know I have a target on my back. I really like to have it. That’s why I work hard, I made sure that no one can get to me.”
Whatever happens in Australia, Sabalenka is buoyed by the confidence that comes from experience. He won 14 straight in Melbourne, and 14 in a row at the Slams on the court. He has learned how to deal with the rigors of working through a big two-week event and is good at isolating others and staying relaxed when he is not on the court.
“My mindset changed a lot,” he said when asked to compare himself to the player who won his first medal in Australia two years ago. “The approach to slams is different. Priorities are different. I can say that mentally I changed a lot. I have that understanding of, ‘Okay, I got it, I know how to do that.’
“I know how to separate life on the court and life outside the court. Before the extra day of rest it would be difficult for me because I would think too much about the next game.”
