Many people were stunned when Azarenka last week but even more were stunned when she absolutely crushed Sabalenka in the 2nd round of the US Open. Immidietly after the match she spoke about her newfound confidence in herself and her abilities:

"Confidence comes before you win. If you believe in yourself and your work, you're already confident and results are a confirmation of your hard work. If you don't believe in yourself before you get results, you'll never get them."

And during her 6-1 6-3 victory over Sabalenka, Azarenka oozed of confidence never allowing her opponent much. When asked if she looked at their previous match for guidance she responded that she didn't. She did admit that it helped her be more used to Aryna's style of playing which helped.

Azarenka did admit it was a pleasure to share the court with a fellow Belarusian which made her extremely proud:

"I'm really happy that two Belarusian are showing such great tennis on the biggest stages in the world, so I'm really proud of that. Sharing the court with Aryna is a pleasure for me; I saw her when she was growing up, and I'm really glad that she's playing really well. When you face someone you want to beat them, but that's only on the court. Last year she won, so this year I had to play better. I knew how dangerous she is, and I feel like I'm a better player this year. I changed a couple things and was able to finish it today."

https://twitter.com/usopen/status/1301795886662471680