Aryna slams brutal youth coaches

PARIS, France (AFP) — World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka may be a three-time Grand Slam winner but the Belarusian revealed Friday how she had been berated and told she would not succeed by coaches as a youngster.

On Friday, top-seeded Sabalenka eased into the French Open Last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Serbia’s Olga Danilovic on Court Philippe Chatrier.

And the 27-year-old Miami-based player spoke of the cultural difference of the coaching system in Eastern Europe.

“I’ve always been quite motivated and they didn’t have to push me,” Sabalenka said.

“But I have heard a lot saying I’m not smart enough, that I’m stupid, and I’ll never make it, and I don’t have anything to make it to the top.”

“I guess I want to send a quick message to them to quit their job, because honestly, I think they know nothing and they better quit just to save other players.”

The Minsk native won back-to-back Australian Open titles in 2023 and 2024 and the US Open last year.

She brushed aside 34th-ranked Danilovic in 79 minutes and next plays 16th-seeded American Amanda Anisimova for a place in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.

The Belarusian said she felt lucky with her coaching team.

“Off court it is important to surround yourself with the right people and have fun with your crew and that’s what I’m doing,” she said.

“I am really grateful to have all of them on my team, we are like family.”

“When I am on court, I am a completely different person, very focused, very aggressive. On the court it is about dreams and I give my all on court.”

Madrid Open winner Sabalenka has spoken this week of how “the environment and in the history of European countries, we are much tougher.”

“I definitely think that the environment we have in our countries, which is very tough and coaches are very brutal, you know, there is nothing nice about the way they work with their players, they (are) quite rude.”

“I think that’s why maybe our mentality is much stronger, but also, at the same time, they kind of broke so many players because of that aggressive mindset.”

“I think in Europe and the States, the environment is much healthier.”

In Paris, Sabalenka refuses to consider herself a favorite in a tournament where she has never advanced past the semi-finals.