Aryna Sabalenka Had Her 15-Match Winning Streak Snapped Just Before the Australian Open, and She's Happy About that

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Aryna Sabalenka Had Her 15-Match Winning Streak Snapped Just Before the Australian Open, and She's Happy About that

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday, February 9, 2021

There are different ways to look at a tough loss that ends a long winning streak. Aryna Sabalenka, who reached the third round at the Australian Open with a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Daria Kasatkina on Day 3, has decided to embrace the loss as a motivator.

She says she’s glad that she lost to Kaia Kanepi last week in Melbourne at the Gippsland Trophy (6-1, 2-6, 6-1).

“I'm really lucky that I lost that match against Kanepi,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “I shouldn't say that. But it was a really good lesson. It was even better to lose that one and kind of, like, switch off, understand that you have to work, everything can happen. It's like kind of push myself into the work, help me for this week.”

Sabalenka, who faces American Ann Li in the third round and who could potentially face Serena Williams in the round of 16, says that having her 15-match losing streak snapped by the Estonian has helped her remember that winning isn’t automatic—it happens only as the result of hard work.

“I think it was really good—not really good, but good lesson for me when I lost against Kanepi,” she repeated. “Kind of put me back in the reality. Makes me work a little bit more. So I think it was really good for me. That's why I already won two matches here, because I'm little bit like I understand that everything can happen again. I mean, I was saying of that every day is a new day. Still, when you're winning, you kind of have this feeling that it's really tough to lose.”

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