Aryna Sabalenka danced her way into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros on Monday, defeating Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Sabalenka looked incredibly sharp against Osaka, hitting 39 winners and winning 83% of the points on her first serve. Even though Osaka had moments of brilliance, Sabalenka's power was just too much in the second set.
"I'm not really overthinking, I was able to separate myself from what's going on this year at Roland Garros. I have been around. Anything can happen. That's tennis. That's sport, you know?" Sabalenka said after the win. "I'm just trying once again to be focused on myself and make sure that when I'm there competing I'm bringing my best level that I have, and I'm there, I'm fighting, and I'm doing everything I can to get this trophy."
Towards the end of Sabalenka's post-match interview with Fabrice Santoro, she was asked to dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
Sabalenka was more than willing to put on a show for the crowd at Chatrier.
© Susan Mullane-Imagn Images.
Former American tennis star Andy Roddick didn't exactly love Santoro's request during Monday night's post-match interview. He believes it was a weird thing to do, especially when the focus is supposed to be on the world No. 1's performance on the court.
"I like him (Santoro), but saying, ‘Will you dance for us?’ is just such a weird thing to ask. I don’t like it. And then when she does it a little bit and it’s kind of over, to then ask her to moonwalk … I don’t know. Maybe people loved it, and I might be in the minority," Roddick said, via the New York Post. "I don’t know, man. Personally, I understand the personality side of these post-match interviews … but it’s just such a lose-lose situation. Props to her for doing it, but I just thought it was weird. I think that’s such a strange thing to ask somebody to do in a professional setting."
The pressure is on Sabalenka.
A year ago, Sabalenka suffered a crushing loss to Coco Gauff in the Roland Garros final. She'd love nothing more than to avenge that result in Paris.
Sabalenka, the odds-on favorite to win the French Open, will face Diana Shanider in the quarterfinals. If she takes care of business, she'll face the winner of Anna Kalinskaya and Maja Chwalinska's match.
We'll see if Sabalenka adds a fifth Grand Slam title to her trophy case.
