“Aryna Sabalenka said, ‘When I lost to Coco Gauff, I realized I need B plan’”: Andrea Petkovic on why US Open loss was "best thing" for World No. 2

Former tennis player Andrea Petkovic recently revealed that Aryna Sabalenka worked on an all-court game after losing to Coco Gauff in the US Open 2023 final.

Sabalenka lost to Gauff in the final despite securing the opening set as the American rose to the occasion on the back of thunderous support from the New York crowd.

Gauff engaged Sabalenka in long rallies, inducing a staggering 46 unforced errors from the Belarusian, and secured the championship with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.

In an episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Petkovic recently stated that the Flushing Meadows loss prompted Sabalenka to add variety to her game, which helped her win the Australian Open for the second successive year. Petkovic said: [at 13:04]

"I honestly think that loss against Coco Gauff in the US Open final was the best thing that happened to her [Sabalenka] because I had the chance to interview her right after she won the Australian Open. I asked her 'Aryna, you look much more like an all-court player. What happened in the off-season, like what was your thought process?"

"She said, 'You know what, when I lost to Coco, I realized I need a B plan. I was hitting the ball well. I was playing well, but Coco was getting everything back and I just at one point didn't know how to win a point anymore or how to make a winner. So, I was working on my net game. I was working on more variety'."

Aryna Sabalenka interestingly avenged the US Open loss to Coco Gauff by defeating the teen 7-6(2), 6-4 in the semifinals at Melbourne Park.

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"Mark Philippoussis said to me, 'Aryna Sabalenka shouldn't lose at all at this at this level of play" - Andrea Petkovic on Belarusian's Australian Open triumph

In the same episode of the Tennis Channel Inside-In podcast, Andrea Petkovic stated that former tennis professional Mark Philippoussis was highly impressed with Aryna Sabalenka's level at the Australian Open 2024.

"We were in the green room and I don't remember who said it to me, but she [Aryna Sabalenka] was playing so well, she was beating somebody else easily. And one of the commentators, maybe it was Mark Philippoussis, he said to me, ‘This girl shouldn't lose at all at this level of play’. And in that moment, I really agreed with him," Petkovic said.

Sabalenka didn't drop a set throughout the fortnight in Melbourne. She began with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ella Seidel and defeated Brenda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. She further thrashed Lesia Tsurenko 6-0, 6-0 in the third.

The defending champion then downed Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round and packed ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. After defeating Coco Gauff in the semifinals, she thumped Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the decider to take the trophy home.