The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka surrender to the 19-year-old American tennis player Coco Gauff, who won this Saturday to him first Grand Slam, the US Open.
“I will not say that I am playing against the public (mostly in favor of Gauff because he is American). I have received many messages from people in New York. But how will the public support me more than him? Of course they should support . He’s 19 years old, he’s playing in a Grand Slam final. It’s unbelievable. He’s truly made history,” he said at a press conference.
“I would say that sometimes the support (from the fans) can put a lot of pressure on the tennis player they support. I think in some way the pressure was on her at the beginning. It was my fault (from the first set) , that I didn’t finish the important points, that I made those unforced errors. I gave them energy. They started shouting louder. He started to lighten up a little bit on the court,” he added.
The African-American tennis player from Florida will rise this Monday to position 3 in the WTA ranking after an amazing summer in which she won the titles from Washington, Cincinnati (his first Masters 1,000) and now the ‘great’ New Yorker.
Sabalenka, which until now has not been Number one in the WTA (dethrones the Polish Iga Swiatek), admitted that perhaps because of this big win he wasn’t “super depressed” after losing this afternoon.
“I’m definitely going to have a drink tonight, if I do say so myself. Yes, we’re sporty, but sometimes we drink, but not too much,” he joked. “Being number one is a huge improvement and achievement. I am really proud of myself and all those years that I have been working so hard and that helped me become number one in the world,” she concluded.
Source: La Verdad
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