'I love rematches': Aryna Sabalenka fired up for rematch with Leylah Fernandez after 2021 US Open heartbreak

World number one Aryna Sabalenka is eager to have a rematch against Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the third round of the US Open. Both players are set to face off in the round of 32 of the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year on Friday.

Sabalenka defeated Polina Kudermetova in straight sets in the second round with a score of 7-6, 6-2. On the other hand, Fernandez cemented her spot in the third round after beating France’s Elsa Jacquemot with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. It will be the second meeting between the two players in professional tennis.

Their only previous meeting took place in the semifinals of the US Open back in 2021, where Fernandez stunned the then-number-two seed with a score of 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. Sabalenka spoke to the media after the match and was asked how she would be feeling while facing Fernandez, who was also competing in the same tournament and had taken a four-year break. In response, Sabalenka stated that she is looking forward to a rematch and also highlighted the fact that a lot has changed since the two players last faced off in a tennis match.

“Yeah, you know, I think I better don't remember anything from that match because I think I changed a lot,” said Sabalenka about facing Fernandez. “I had really tough challenges after that. And I went through, I found myself, I become a better player and a person. So I think it's going to be completely different match. So I better just don't even try to remember that much. But of course, I do remember a couple of things. And I love rematches. So I'm actually super excited facing her here again.”

Really happy with my performance: Sabalenka

Sabalenka spoke about her performance on the night and claimed that she was ‘really happy’ with how she managed to get over the line in straight sets. “I actually think that after that little timeout, I was down 14-15 on my serve, isn't it?,” said Sabalenka. “But then after that, yeah, I found the rhythm. And I think I played pretty decent tennis after that. So overall, really happy with my performance and with the win, of course.”

Sabalenka was then asked about her point of view regarding the incident, which involved America’s Taylor Townsend and Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Both players had a heated argument after a handshake following Townsend's victory in the match. Sabalenka stated that she had a word with Ostapenko and also believes that things off the court might have contributed to her reaction after losing the match.

“I actually spoke to Jelana after the match, but during our conversation, I didn't know what happened,” said Sabalenka. “And well, I have to say that she's nice. You know, she just sometimes can lose control and she has some things in life to face and some struggles. So I was just trying to help her to, I don't know, maybe, I don't know, just not like face it more in mature way. But I was just trying to help her to settle down and kind of like, just was someone she could speak to and just let it go. You know, I think she just sometimes can just lose control over her emotions, which are pretty tough. And I really hope that one day she will figure it herself and she will handle it much better. I think so. Yeah [that off the court things have impacted Jelena’s reaction]. You know, like sometimes when you struggle with some things in life, it's of course can reflect your tennis career. And on the court, you're more unstable and you can lose control and you just don't understand what's going on in the moment. And then for sure, I'm pretty sure like looking back, she's not happy with her behavior.”

Sabalenka was later asked an interesting question about the absence of Gavin MacMillan, her biomechanics coach. MacMillan, who was credited with fixing Sabalenka’s serving issues in 2022, joined America’s Coco Gauff’s coaching staff on the eve of the US Open. Sabalenka was asked the reason behind the separation and how she is going to cope with his absence. In response to that, Sabalenka refused to reveal the reason behind the separation and showed complete faith in her current coaching staff.

“I'm not going to talk about [separation] that,” said Sabalenka. “He's not going to be in my team. Well, I think we'll learn a lot on the biomechanic side of the game. And if not him, I'm pretty sure there is some other specialists in this area. And hopefully I won't be serving double faults that much and I won't need someone like that. But I think I have a really smart team, really smart people around me, people who understand tennis, very experienced people, and people who know me and people who went with me through a lot. So they know about me, everything. And if we're ever going to be looking into something like that, they're going to be able to fix me.”