Aryna Sabalenka admits she deeply felt for Coco Gauff during their Wuhan Open semifinal match as watching the 20-year-old struggle so much on her serve reminded the Belarusian of her own struggles from 2022.
On Saturday, the American led by a set and three times went up by a break in the second set but the top-seeded Belarusian still ended up winning 1-6 6-4 6-4 after the No. 4 seed sprayed a stunning 21 double faults.
Early in the match, Gauff hit three double faults but still didn't face any break points during the first set. But shortly after breaking Sabalenka in the first game of the second set, the serving woes that have been hampering the 20-year-old for several months now reappeared again.
During the second and third sets, the world No. 4 hit a total of 18 double faults - nine in each set. Down 4-5 in the decider and serving to stay in the match, the American hit two double faults in that game - the second one came on a match point.
In 2022, Sabalenka started having major issues with her serve and she double-faulted 428 times. She by far led the Tour in that category that year as the second player on the list had 151 fewer double faults in 2022.
While the 26-year-old has since resolved her issues and became a three-time Grand Slam champion, watching Gauff brought up some traumatic memories and the Belarusian was sad to see that happening to another player.
"I was playing that match thinking, like, 'Well, girl, I feel you. I feel you like nobody else.' I know what she's going through. This is really difficult. This is really tough. But I know that if she'll be able to overcome this serve situation, she already one of the best players, but I'm pretty sure she's going to be one of the greatest players," the Wuhan top seed said.
Sabalenka confesses she thought she was done
After losing the first five games of the match and then also dropping her serve in the first game of the second set, the Belarusian tennis star didn't have much hopes.
"At the beginning, I couldn't do anything. I didn't feel any strokes. It felt like, Whatever. I kind of like accepted I already lost this match. I was like, 'Okay, whatever. If she's going to give me chances, I'll try my best. If not, whatever, I'll fly back home, enjoy a little rest time and prepare for the Finals.' But yeah, I'm happy I was able to turn around this match," Sabalenka admitted.
Through the first five games of the second set, as many breaks were seen. Then, Gauff held to her serve in the sixth game to open a 4-2 lead.
But since the top seed had already broken the American twice by then, she thought there might be an opening for her. And there was after she won the next seven games to win the second set and take a 3-0 lead in the decider before completing her comeback win.
"I mean, how did it feel? At some point in the second set when she kept breaking me, I was like, 'Okay, I still have chances on her serve.' I was just trying to put as much pressure on her as I can so she would go even crazier on her serve. I think she just dropped her level on her serve. I just felt like, 'Okay, I still have some chances in this match.' I was pushing myself so hard to put balls back on the other side as much as I could," Sabalenka explained.
Sabalenka recalls how her serving woes started
Asked how her serving issues happened in 2022, the 26-year-old shared that initially it started as a technical issue - but as she was thinking more about it - it also became a mental thing.
"Well, I would say first it started as a technical issue. But then when you serve so many double-faults, you kind of stand there thinking like, Is this going to happen again or I'm able to put this serve in? Then it became a mental issue. Then you just have to deal with both, which is really difficult and tough. You have to be really mentally strong enough to overcome this thin," Sabalenka said.
That led to the Belarusian making a very interesting decision - she hired a biomechanics coach to help her. It turned out to be an absolutely great move as Sabalenka's achievements since then speak for itself.
"I think I just started this journey with a biomechanic guy. I just got a little belief that, 'okay, my serve is still there. I was like just keep working, keep trying, keep serving. Keep double-faulting sometimes, but already with understanding what is going on there without thinking if it's going to happen again or not," she explained.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka plays against Zheng Qinwen in the Wuhan final.
