Coach Anton Dubrov says the days of Aryna Sabalenka not believing she can do well on clay are long gone and therefore he wouldn’t draw any similarities between the Belarusian and the iconic comment Maria Sharapova made about playing on the slowest tennis surface.
After winning her first Grand Slam title as a 17-year-old girl at 2004 Wimbledon, the former Russian tennis star also landed her first US Open trophy in 2006. But while the now 37-year-old quickly established herself as a superstar and a big-time player, she just wasn’t managing to make a breakthrough at Roland Garros in her first couple of appearances.
“I feel like a cow on ice. Especially on clay. I don’t play on clay for the other 10 months of the year. It’s not as natural for me,” Sharapova said in 2007 following her second-round win at Roland Garros over Jill Craybas.
When it comes to Sabalenka, she is a four-time Slam finalist – a three-time winner – has two Australian Open and one US Open trophy in her collection. While the Belarusian has probably been the best player on hard over the last two years, she has yet to make a French Open final.
After not making it past the third round in any of her five main draw appearances in Paris, the 26-year-old reached the semifinal last year before exiting in this…
