"A lot of us were, to be honest, feeling sorry for her": Storm Hunter remembers Aryna Sabalenka's serve struggle during Australian Open 2022 clash

Australia’s Storm Hunter has recalled the time of facing reigning world number one Aryna Sabalenka when she was struggling big time with her serve. The 26-year-old is now regarded as the best player in the world in women’s tennis in the singles category.

In 2022, Sabalenka had a rare bad patch as she was struggling big time with her serve, which is usually her strength. Hunter was drawn to face the three-time Grand Slam winner in the Australian Open in the first round. The reigning world number one, who at the time was the world number two, came into the match struggling heavily with her serve as prior to the competition in Adelaide, she made 18 errors in the match against Kaja Juvan and eventually lost the match.

Read also

Badosa and Sabalenka: When tennis buddies turn into F1 enthusiasts

Hunter recently spoke to the official Australian Open website, where she recalled that match. The Rockhampton City-born, who went on to lose that match with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, stated that her team never underestimated Sabalenka despite her struggles with the serve. She also stated the two-time Australian Open winner did not give away anything in the contest.

Read also

Aryna Sabalenka crowned 2024 WTA Player of the Year as Emma Navarro and Paula Badosa also feature

“Everyone knows the serve is her strength, or should be her strength,” said Hunter. “And it was actually really hard watching that. A lot of us were, to be honest, feeling sorry for her, because no-one wants to be in that position. I don't care whether she has yips or not – she's No.2 in the world,” Hunter said. There was never a conversation in my team of like 'oh, once she starts double faulting, you're gonna get this.' It was almost probably unprofessional or immature to think 'oh she's just going to keep serving like that'. Because she's a superstar; we respected her, her game, and her serve. We couldn’t take that for granted. She didn't give anything away mentally. I looked down the other end, and it seemed she was as composed as she could be. She wasn't breaking down like she was in Adelaide. I just felt like, she's gonna find a way, she's a competitor.”