Aryna Sabalenka who copped a lot of flak from all corners due to her comments on Coco Gauff after losing the French Open earlier this year, on Saturday said that she had worked a lot on controlling her emotions after that incident. Sabalenka shared this after she defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the US Open final.
“I was in Mykonos, reading my book, enjoying the view and I was just thinking that why would I let my emotions take control over me in those two finals?” Sabalenka said. “It felt like I thought that, OK, if I made it to the final, it means that I’m going to win it, and I sort of didn’t expect players to come out there and to fight. I thought that everything’s going to go easily my way, which was completely the wrong mindset.”
“Going into this final, I decided for myself that I’m going to control my emotions. I’m not going to let them take control over me, and doesn’t matter what happens in the match. To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super proud right now of myself,” she added.
On working with a psychologist
The Belarus player also opened up about how she met a psychologist for 5 years which initially helped her but ultimately made her feel that she was relying on the professional a little too much.
“I thought that, OK, she has to fix me, she has to give me an answer. So I wasn’t really taking the responsibility over my actions,” Sabalenka said. “I was making the same mistake over and over again, and I was getting upset that it’s not helping.
“At some point I decided, OK, I have to take responsibility and I have to figure it (out) by myself by thinking, analyzing and understanding myself better. I think it actually worked really well. I think that was the right move for me,” she added.
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