The Belarusian believes Sabalenka has developed this quality and declared the three-time major winner is striving to reach Djokovic‘s level in this area.
Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the final of the US Open earlier this month to claim her third Grand Slam title.
The 26-year-old faced an American opponent with a sizable fan base behind her, but she handled the situation brilliantly to win in Flushing Meadows for the first time. In the US Open 2023 championship final, Sabalenka lost to fellow American Coco Gauff in three sets.
She has acknowledged that the audience had an impact on her performance. After winning the US Open in 2024, Sabalenka talked about how she handled playing against Americans in the major in New York. The world No. 2 remarked, “I would say that this year, I felt so much love from the crowd.” “They were still encouraging and giving me a little cheer even though I was competing against Americans.”
“I felt like last year there was kind of like close to zero on my side, and this year I felt a lot of support, even in the finals. I’m just super happy to feel so much love in New York.”
Djokovic is renowned for thriving in hostile crowd environments and has prevailed in numerous high-profile matches when the majority of spectators were supporting his opponent.
In an interview with Championat, Dubrov discussed how Sabalenka has improved at performing in high-pressure situations.
“Your own hormone has already been developed there: when you go out onto the Arthur Ashe against the American,” Dubrov said. “I think Aryna’s advantage is that she has the opportunity to become more active.
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