Aryna Sabalenka will be desperate to exorcise her Roland Garros demons this year and finally win the tournament.
After all, she came so close to glory last year, but saw it snatched away from her by Coco Gauff in the swirling winds.
Her comments afterwards caused a huge stir in the media, and it feels like that event, and particularly how it ended, has changed the Belarusian completely as a person.
And yet, despite that, Aryna Sabalenka has been spearheading this push for a greater share of revenue amongst the players, happy to be the figurehead of this movement.
She discussed that huge talking point in today’s Roland Garros press conference, whilst also issuing a crucial fitness update as well.
Aryna Sabalenka delivers a fitness update after suffering injury in Rome
Although it was only brief, this is a fitness update that needed to be given.
After all, given how Sabalenka departed Rome, there were fears over her physical condition, having lost to Sorana Cirstea whilst nursing what appeared to be a back injury.
Can anyone realistically stop Aryna Sabalenka from going ‘all the way’ at Roland Garros this year? 🏆
The world number one was given treatment on it, and Sabalenka did give an injury update immediately after that match.
However, her latest claim will not put any fears to bed, as she stated: “Now I feel 100%. We’ve done a great recovery job, and I’m ready to compete. Physically, I feel ready to go all the way.”
Aryna Sabalenka explains why she is protesting at Roland Garros
Naturally, Sabalenka was never going to be able to walk away from this press conference without questions about the protests.
After all, a large group of the top players had all agreed to depart after just 15 minutes of answering questions, and yet ironically spent the bulk of that time discussing this pay dispute.
Will players regret their decision to walk out of press conferences at Roland Garros?
Tensions are high in Paris!
The 28-year-old merely reiterated her old points when asked, stating: “It’s not about me. It’s about the lower-ranked players, the ones who struggle.
“As world number one, I feel like I have to set an example and stand up and fight for those players. We’ve been trying to do it in a respectful way. We’re only fighting for a fairer percentage.”
This comes after Sabalenka threatened to boycott Grand Slams in order to get this financial parity.
