New Australian Open women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka said after her victory over Elena Rybakina in the final that she hopes to return to Melbourne in a year’s time and have a chance to defend her title.
“I want to apologize at the beginning for my bad English because I am very excited and my words are coming in my native language. Thank you first to the esteemed Billie Jean King. Thanks also to my opponent who is an amazing tennis player and I hope we have more matches. You’ve done so much work, so congratulations. Thanks also to the audience, without whom such an event is simply not the same”, said in an emotional interview Aryna Sabalenka after winning the trophy. “And to my team, I know what I’ve done to you in the last year. Thank you for sticking by me in one of my toughest times. Hopefully next year I’ll be back again and I can fight to defend my title. I am very happy and proud of myself. I’d say I’m mostly talking from the pressure. This has been my big goal ever since I’ve been competing in major tennis and now I can be proud of myself and my team. It’s unreal. I want to dedicate this win to my family , which has gone through a lot of difficulties in recent years. I felt that there was a big responsibility on me, not only for me, but also for them. I started badly in the first set and in the second I had to try something different. To put my opponent under more pressure, to make her move”, added she.
The runner-up Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan congratulated the champion. “Congratulations to Arina who has made an amazing start this season. I wish her luck and success. I hope we will have many more battles against each other”, said Elena Rybakina
“I want to thank my team. We have done a lot of work in the pre-season. I thank my family. I also thank the president of the Kazakhstan Tennis Federation for his support in recent years. To the hosts, I thank them for their friendly attitude and amazing atmosphere. I am looking forward to returned next year”, added Elena Rybakina.
