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Aryna Sabalenka recently expressed her joy and confidence after winning the Australian Open 2023 title.
Belarusian fifth seed Sabalenka came back from a set down in the final to defeat Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to win her maiden Grand Slam title on Saturday, 28 January.
The World No. 5 produced some of her best tennis, hitting 51 winners and landing 17 aces in total, to win the match between two of the WTA Tour's most powerful hitters. With this victory, she will move up to No. 2 in the WTA rankings while Rybakina will move up from No. 25 to No. 10.
Following that, in a press conference, Aryna Sabalenka was asked how the title victory would impact her fame in her home country of Belarus. To this, she replied that her country's people would be "proud" and that she gained more "respect" for herself. The new Australian Open champion also said that she has begun to understand that she is "a good player."
"I don't know. I mean, I think famous in my country? It's not so many good athletes in my country. That's why I'm famous there. I mean, I think so. I think people proud of me," Sabalenka said.
"I think right now I have a little bit, yeah, more respect to myself. I kind of starting to understand that I'm actually good player. I have to respect, not only respect everybody, respect myself as well, you know?"
"I thought if she could, then probably I can" - Aryna Sabalenka on how countrywoman Victoria Azarenka inspired her
Two players from Belarus have now won the Australian Open — Victoria Azarenka twice and Aryna Sabalenka once. Understandably, the new champion was questioned about a possible connection between Australia and Belarusian players.
The 24-year-old responded that Belarusians love Australia and that there might be something about Australia for them.
"I don't know. I think we love Australia. I hope Australia loves us. So I think it's — I don't know. Something is good about Australia for us," she said.
She went on to state that even though she didn't watch Azarenka win the title at Melbourne Park, seeing her countrywoman triumph gave her hope that she could do the same.
"And, yeah, 10 years, it's a lot. To be honest, I didn't really watch tennis that much when she won Australian Open. But, I mean, of course, having a great player from my country helped me to kind of have this belief that I can do well. If she could, I thought if she could, then probably I can," Sabalenka said.
