Aryna Sabalenka gives hilarious answer to Serena Williams' question on her most random thought on-court
Aryna Sabalenka recently gave an amusing response to Serena Williams' question on what has been the most random thought she has had on-court. The Belarusian stated that she felt weighed down by the burrito she ate the night before her 2023 Madrid Open clash against Mayar Sherif.
Sabalenka had a brief scare against Sherif in the quarter-finals of the 2023 Madrid Open, as she lost the first set 2-6. But she soon regained her rhythm, dominating the next two sets to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In a post-match conversation with the Tennis Channel, the interviewer stated that he had received a text from Serena Williams, who was attending the 2023 MET Gala, posing the question to Sabalenka.
Sabalenka hesitated at hearing the question, before breaking into laughter. With a prompt from the interviewer, the 24-year-old replied that she thought about what she had for dinner the previous night and blamed her choice - a burrito - for her shaky start to the match.
"Oh my God, I need a minute. So I had burritos last night and I was thinking, yeah, definitely burrito didn't help me [laughs]. It's all because of the burrito," she said.
Sabalenka also asked the interviewer to ask the same question to Serena Williams whenever they spoke next.
"I was wondering what that random thought was for Serena. Could you ask her?" she added.
Aryna Sabalenka set to clash with Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals of Madrid Open 2023
Aryna Sabalenka will square off against ninth seed Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals of the 2023 Madrid Open on Thursday.
Sabalenka is looking to recreate her 2021 title run in Madrid. The reigning Australian Open champion made a strong start to the 2023 edition, defeating Camila Osorio and Mirra Andreeva before dropping her first set against Sherif in the quarterfinals.
Maria Sakkari, meanwhile, got the better of Paula Badosa in the fourth round. She then toughed out a three-set battle against Irina Camila Begu to seal her spot in the semi-finals of the Madrid Open for the first time.
In a post-match interview, Sakkari spoke highly of Sabalenka but stated that playing against the Belarusian on clay might work in her favor.
"We all know she's in top form right now," Sakkari said. "She's the one that is playing the best tennis right now, better than anyone else. Obviously it's not hard court, her favorite surface, but she won this tournament and she's playing very good. I believe I can play good on clay court."
Aryna Sabalenka leads the head-to-head between the two players by a margin of 5-3.