Each couple weeks, you can play fantastic and win it constantly, but in another few weeks, you can collapse, or play poorly. That is all about the tennis, on the court, and off. They can be happy, or sad. It is not just playing, but also, many of the players are learning what they can do. In order to practice all the time, to eventually reach at the WTA or the ATP, it is rare that they can go to school. Or even if they did it, by high school, and you sit there for hours, five days a week, then they have to deal with the excellent players, and often, you will love. It is very rare.
Also, mentally, you can see that a few of the players are upset, and worried. You can look at Amanda Anisimova and Garbine Muguruza, both just decided to take the time off. On court, they are bored, or frustrated. Hopefully, soon enough, they will come back, eventually, but to do very deep at the big events and the Grand Slams, that is a legitimate question.
However, Aryna Sabalenka had a terrific tournament in Madrid, beating Iga Swiatek in three, super intense sets. She had lost five times with the Polish person, Swiatek,most of it on the clay, but this time, Sabalenka decided not just to crush the ball, but to react. A few years ago, she did not love clay, but now, she is finally much more core.
“I really enjoy playing on clay, because I have extra time. It’s not super fast, so I can go for my powerful shots, because I have not so many but I have a lot of time here,” Sabalenka said. “Yeah, that’s why I really enjoy clay, because it’s longer rallies. It’s like not just bomb, bomb, you know. You have to work for every point, and that’s really amazing.”
She now rarely gets tired, as she can run for ever. Even when she plays, at an event, she knows that if she can consistently as much as she can, then she will gradually remedy. As she said,“I was working really hard in my fitness, so I’m able to play these long rallies and play these long matches and not getting really tired. So I was feeling fine.”
Swiatek and Sabalenka and are No. 1 and No. 2. Last year in Rome, Swiatek destroyed Sabalenka 6-2, 6-1. Now it will be totally different, on clay. They might play in the final in Rome, or maybe not. Also. Roland Garros is also coming up. There will be some nervous at times, but both of them know that if they play great, then they feel that they can beat anybody.
NOTES
Petra Kvitova, Belinda Bencic, Zhang Shuai and Simona Halep, whom we don’t know who will return. She is waiting, soon. … Other than Sabalenka and Swiatek, there are some who will reach into the quarters, at least. Here are 15 more people who can win a few matches and then, in Rome, they will be pumped up such as Ons Jabeur, Jessica Pegula, Carolina Garcia, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Mayar Sherif, Victoria Azarenka (who won the doubles) Paula Badosa, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Martina Trevisan , Beatriz Haddad Maia, Anastasia Potapova, Barbora Krejcikova, Sorana Cirstea, and the — the last one, who finally began to rise with Zheng Qinwen. She is coming up.
