Aryna Sabalenka admitted becoming a Grand Slam champion felt a bit surreal as it took her a couple of days to grasp what really happened in Australia. Sabalenka, 24, could not have started her 2023 season any better as she captured back-to-back titles at the Adelaide International and Australian Open.
After losing in three Grand Slam semifinals in the past, Sabalenka managed to make her big Grand Slam breakthrough in Australia this past January. “I couldn’t believe it in the beginning. Then for the next week I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I did it.
Yes, it happened. I was having this conversation in my head that, ‘Wow, that happened’ It’s so amazing. Now I have even more motivation to work hard, just to feel it again,” Sabalenka said, per Yahoo Sports.
Sabalenka is returning to action this week
After taking a few weeks to rest, Sabalenka is ready to compete in Dubai.
Sabalenka, who is the second-seeded player, has a first-round bye in Dubai. In the second round, Sabalenka will play the winner of the match between Anastasia Potapova and Jil Teichmann. Sabalenka is set to make her sixth main draw appearance in Dubai.
Last year, Sabalenka didn’t really enjoy much success in Dubai as she was beaten by Petra Kvitova in the round-of-16. However, Sabalenka is optimistic that this year she can enjoy a better run in Doha. “This year is different because they changed the balls.
The surface is new. It’s different than it was last year. Last year was super fast. The balls were flying. Right now I feel like I have more chances to do well in this tournament just because of these changes,” Sabalenka explained.
In Dubai, Sabalenka made back-to-back quarterfinals in 2020 and 2021. Sabalenka is unbeaten at the start of the 2023 season and she is certainly among the top favorites for the Dubai title. It remains to be seen how far can Sabalenka go in Dubai this week.
