"Elena Rybakina is such a nice person, you can't do that to her" - Aryna Sabalenka jokes about nearly blowing 5-0 lead in WTL
Aryna Sabalenka hilariously suggested that Elena Rybakina's niceness was why she almost threw away a 5-0 lead against the latter in their 2024 World Tennis League clash. Ultimately, it was the reigning World No. 1 who came out on top with a 7-6(3) win.
Sabalenka, part of team Hawks at the exhibition mixed-team tennis event, took a commanding 5-0 lead against Rybakina, who is a member of team Falcons. However, despite looking down and out, the Kazakh mounted an impressive comeback and leveled things up. After managing to get the better of Rybakina in the decisive tiebreak, Sabalenka said during her on-court interview:
"I was just telling myself you can’t be that tough on Elena. She’s such a nice person. You cannot do that to her. So I was like okay, let’s be friendly and get it to 5-5 and then we'll see who's going to get that one."
Aryna Sabalenka's win allowed the Hawks to establish a 2-0 lead over the Falcons. Earlier in the day, the World No. 1 had teamed up with youngster Mirra Andreeva to play doubles against Rybakina and Caroline Garcia. Sabalenka and Andreeva won the match 7-6(5).
There was a comic moment after Sabalenka had thrown away her 5-0 lead against Rybakina. During the tiebreak, a baby in the crowd started crying. Hearing the sound, Sabalenka said:
"That’s exactly how I feel right now"
Despite being rivals, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina share a friendly relationship. Earlier this year, the two had produced another comic moment, following the end of the Brisbane International women's singles final.
Aryna Sabalenka playfully interrupted Elena Rybakina as Kazakh was congratulating Belarusian's team at Brisbane International 2024
The women's singles final at the 2024 Brisbane International saw Aryna Sabalenka lock horns against Elena Rybakina. On that occasion, it was the Kazakh who came up trumps with a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win. Later, during the trophy presentation ceremony, Rybakina stepped up to deliver her speech, and began by congratulating Sabalenka. Before she could congratulate the latter's team, the Belarussian interrupted her.
Rybakina said,
"Congrats Aryna for the great week and also for the great season last year. Hopefully, we will meet in Melbourne. For sure I think it’s going to be a great battle again. Despite the score, it’s always tough to play against you, we always push each other, which I think is great we are improving this way,"
The Belarusian jokingly interrupted the Kazakh, saying:
"No congrats"
However, Sabalenka's playful remarks ultimately did not deter Rybakina from congratulating the Belarusian's team.