"I was just telling myself you can’t be that tough on Elena”: Aryna Sabalenka jokes after squandered lead against Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka shared her thoughts with her captain after securing a win over Elena Rybakina at the World Tennis League. The World No. 1 squandered a 5-0 lead, and the match was decided in a tiebreak, where the Belarusian ultimately prevailed against a resilient Rybakina.

The 3-time Grand Slam champion, started dominantly, winning 20 of the first 24 points as Rybakina struggled with her second serve. However, the 2022 Wimbledon champion recovered her form, leveling the match at 5-5 and pushing it to a tiebreak.

After the match, Sabalenka reflected on losing her significant lead against the Kazakh player. “I was just telling myself you can’t be that tough on Elena. She’s such a nice person. You cannot do that to her. Let’s be friendly,” she commented during her on-court interview.

While speaking with the Hawks Team Captain, Sabalenka jokingly blamed him for the blown lead. “Let’s say he still had to learn how to adjust to the player when things are not going well, what to say, how to react. It’s totally his fault. When I was there at 5-2, he could’ve cheered me up a bit more, and he didn’t.”

Sabalenka won 7-6(3) in her singles debut against Rybakina. Earlier, she had teamed up with Mirra Andreeva to defeat Rybakina and Caroline Garcia in women’s doubles with the same scoreline, 7-6(5).

In the third match, Team Hawks clinched another win as Sumit Nagal and Jordan Thompson secured a tight 7-5 victory over Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov. However, it wasn’t enough, as Rublev’s stellar performance in the final match, winning the Overtime and Super Shootout, ensured the Falcons emerged victorious despite trailing 1-3 in matches.