Aryna Sabalenka Crashes Out To Osaka at Wimbledon, Says She Feels ‘In A Dark Hole’
Naomi Osaka beat Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at Wimbledon. The Belarusian said she has a 'hate relationship' with the tournament after another early exit.
'This year I messed it all up' says a heartbroken Sabalenka says she 'feels like getting drunk' following her defeat to Osaka...
After losing to an in-form Naomi Osaka in Sunday's fourth round, world number one Aryna Sabalenka admitted she wanted to drown her sorrows. Her hopes of claiming a Wimbledon title will now have to wait at least one more year.
The highly anticipated matchup between the two four-time Grand Slam champions didn’t deliver the drama fans expected. 14th seed Osaka powered through to a 6-2, 7-6 (2) win on Centre Court.
“No emotions. Just know that I can handle myself much better than last year,” she told reporters. “Obviously, guys, if you were expecting something really fun, not going to happen. Probably just going to be short answers.
“I fucked it up this year. Next year I'll try to do better. I just think, to be honest, I feel like my level was really low today, plus she was feeling her best. With every game we would play, I would feel worse, she would feel better.”
Osaka’s depth and pace kept Sabalenka off balance throughout. Even though she fought hard in the second set, the world No.1 never looked fully in control.
Sabalenka let her frustration show - screaming in the first set and hitting her racket against her head early in the second. After match point, the 28-year-old fired a ball high into the stands and went straight to her press conference.
A year after a semi-final defeat to Amanda Anisimova - her third straight loss at that stage at Wimbledon - and after calling it a ‘hate relationship’ with the tournament, Sabalenka was asked how she felt about exiting on grass again.
Sabalenka also lost the Australian Open final this year. Then at the French Open she went out in the quarter-finals after falling apart in the final set vs Diana Shnaider, and said she felt like quitting tennis and was in a ‘dark hole’.
The Belarusian will keep the world No.1 ranking after Wimbledon, but she said she didn’t care about that right now.
“Oh, this question, guys. I mean, let's just look at the ranking. Right now I'm world number one. Level-wise, today I wasn't world number one. Yesterday I was world number one,” she said.
“I feel like I just don't even want to think about rankings at this point. I just want to go, get completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape.”
It was Sabalenka’s first straight-sets loss at a Grand Slam in six years.
“It's okay. I'll get back stronger. We'll start building everything from scratch for the next one,” she said.
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