Aryna Sabalenka wanted to make one thing clear during her pre-tournament press conference in Toronto as the two-time Grand Slam champion shut down the claim that clay is not her best surface.
Since Sabalenka has a big game and plays very aggressive tennis, the natural assumption is that hard and grass courts are surfaces that better suit her game. And in Toronto, the current world No. 3 was asked how she feels about her hard chances after doing on clay which is “not your best surface.”
“I love to play on clay court. I don’t know why people think that this is not my best surface. I probably feel better on clay than on hard, to be honest. But, yeah, result-wise, I’m better on hard court (laughing),” Sabalenka said.
On hard courts, Sabalenka won her two Slam titles as she captured back-to-back titles in the last two Australian Open editions. Also, only two of the 26-year-old Belarusian’s 15 titles have come on clay – she won the Madrid Open in 2021 and 2023.
During this year’s clay swing, Sabalenka did well but didn’t win any titles – she finished as runner-up to Iga Swiatek in the Madrid and Rome finals before exiting the French Open in the quarterfinal.
“Yeah, I mean, clay court is different tennis. It’s longer rallies, you need to build a point, you need…
