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Aryna Sabalenka progressed to the fourth round of the Miami Open 2023 and will be up against old foe Barbora Krejcikova next. As the Belarusian gears up for a challenging contest, she has heaped praise on her opponent and opined that there are some players, including Krejcikova, who are doing consistently well on the tour.
Aryna Sabalenka has been in great form in the ongoing Miami Open and it was evident in her third-round match as she dropped just three games to decimate Marie Bouzkova 6-1, 6-2.
The Australian Open champion said she is looking forward to a tough contest against Krejcikova, as both players aim to cement their spot in the quarterfinals.
"I think if you give her some time, she can put the ball wherever she wants to. It's tough. So you have to put a lot of pressure on her," she said after her match against Bouzkova.
Sabalenka leads the pair's head-to-head record 3-1 and is leaving no stone unturned to do her homework and understand her opponent's game.
"You have to be really aggressive on court and not give her too much time and make her really work for it. She's a great player and it's always tough battles against her," she said.
Aryna Sabalenka added that players like Krejcikova are doing very well on tour right now and said she loves playing good back-to-back contests against the likes.
"I like that now on tour there are some players who are doing consistently good and I really like to see that. I like these back-to-back matches," she added.
The duo last met on court at Indian Wells, with Sabalenka winning the battle.
Aryna Sabalenka lauds WTA for supporting Russian and Ukranian players
Aryna Sabalenka opined that the WTA is doing its bit to ease the tension between the Russian and Ukrainian players, given the tussle the two countries are undergoing.
The comments from Sabalenka come in the wake of Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko pulling out of her third-round encounter against Sabalenka at the Indian Wells, citing a panic attack.
“I still have this belief that I did nothing bad to Ukraine; not me, not Russian athletes, not one of us did something bad. I think WTA are doing really great job to support both sides," she had said after Tsurenko pulled out of the match against her.
Sabalenka revealed that she herself had a tough time dealing with the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war.
"I was through so many bad things, and unfortunately, I'm not able to say that because who gonna believe Belarusian girl,” she said.
Aryna Sabalenka also sympathized with the Ukrainians and stated that some athletes were offering help, however possible.
