Aryna Sabalenka at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship 2023.

Gulf News

Aryna Sabalenka at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship Player’s Roundtable press meet on Sunday.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/sport/tennis/pressure-of-expectations-is-weighing-heavily-on-caroline-garcia-1.93954973  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #ArynaSabalenka  #DubaiDutyFreeTennis

Transcript

00:00Does it feel like you're undefeated this year, or do you not feel it that much?

00:04I mean, it's only two tournaments for me. It's been only two tournaments, and it's many weeks to go.

00:10It's good that I didn't lose much in Australia, but right now we're in Dubai.

00:15I don't know if it's going to be the same, but I'm doing my best to keep improving, keep winning.

00:24You won in Abu Dhabi when it was that one tournament, right?

00:29Yes.

00:30And you won Doha before?

00:31Yes.

00:32So do you want to finish the hat trick?

00:35Yeah, actually it would be really cool to win Dubai.

00:38Are the conditions similar, or is it different here?

00:41I mean, this year is different because they changed the balls, and the surface is new.

00:47So it's different than it was last year, so I really like it more, because last year it was super fast.

00:52The balls were flying, and right now I feel like I have more chance to do well in this tournament just because of these changes.

00:59This is such a strong field. Do you think this has motivated you to perform and keep your winning run in Dubai?

01:07Let's say that again.

01:10This is almost like a Grand Slam, very strong field. We have 17 of the top 20.

01:15Okay, I understand.

01:16So that way, is it motivating you to get your first Dubai victory?

01:20Because you said it motivates you when you want to.

01:23I mean, the draw is really strong here, and I like this tournament, I like this city.

01:29Of course I want to win this tournament, but I know that there is a lot of matches ahead, a lot of tough matches ahead.

01:38So I have to work hard, and if I win this tournament, it will be really great.

01:45And yeah, I would like to win this one.

01:48I have a question just here.

01:49Speaking of the draw, the players here, are there any players that you would pick and say,

01:54these are going to be my toughest competition going into the tournament?

01:58I'm not looking at the draw that far, I'm just taking it step by step.

02:02Because sometimes you look far in the draw, and then you're losing in the first match,

02:07because you're already thinking about your semi-final match or whatever.

02:10So I'm just trying to take it step by step, because each opponent is really tough.

02:14I think tennis has improved a lot, and if you see in the draw, number 1 playing against number 30,

02:22it doesn't say anything. Anyone can beat anyone, so I'm just taking it step by step.

02:28You spoke of the realization after the Australian Open, and you said, wow, I really did this.

02:34Is that the mentality of not looking too much into numbers, or not looking too much into opponents?

02:38Is that something you would carry for the rest of the season?

02:42Yeah, I would like to just focus on myself, because I think the only thing why I won Australian Open,

02:52it's just because I was focusing on myself, and I didn't really think about all the expectations,

02:59all the things happening around, and this is Grand Slam, and all this stuff.

03:02I was just focusing on myself. I was just keep telling myself that I have to bring my level on court,

03:09and I have a lot of chances to win the match, so yeah, I'll just try to focus on myself.

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