Aryna Sabalenka gives her verdict on whether she can beat Serena Williams’ records
Aryna Sabalenka has admitted it will be “very difficult” to match the number of Grand Slam titles Serena Williams won in her legendary tennis career.
By the time the younger of the two Williams sisters hung up her racket in 2022, she had an Open Era record 23 Slam titles to show for it but current No.1 Sabalenka believes it will be hard to even come close to that number.
The Belarusian player is 27 and has four Slams including the US Open this year but cast doubt on matching the achievements of Williams.
“We all want to break all the records, I think that’s obvious,” Sabalenka said in Wuhan. “I think the right thing to do is to focus on yourself, on your game, on developing as a player and as a person, and if you deserve these big titles, if you deserve to break some records, you will.
“So my goal is to develop as a player. And of course, I want to do that, but it’s going to be very difficult to match the Grand Slam titles that Serena Williams has.”
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Williams retired when she was 40 and if Sabalenka were to do similar, she would have to play past that age. The current world No.1 said she is not focused on records though.
“I guess for me, the goal is to go as far as possible in this sport, and I give my all every day. I dedicate my life to this sport. So I really hope that at the end of my career, I’ll sit back, look at my results, and feel really proud of myself.”
“I feel like the goals are very obvious, and I don’t like to set one. I love to focus on myself, and what I’ve learned this year is that I have to focus solely on myself. And anyway, whenever I’m competing, I want to win, so I focus on each match, step by step.
“I think those tough losses and the things I had to deal with this year definitely made me stronger as a person and a better player. It’s a learning process. And what I’ve learned over the years is to accept everything and give your best at every moment. And that’s it. That’s basically all you can control,” says Aryna Sabalenka, who meanwhile is just winning matches.”
Sabalenka has been top of the WTA Rankings since the start of the year and her Wuhan Open has ensured she will remain there for a full calendar year as she has secured the year-end No.1 ranking.
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