Aryna Sabalenka’s Resilient Recovery: How a Full Night’s Sleep Powered Her US Open 2024 Success
Aryna Sabalenka’s Winning Recovery: How a Full Night’s Sleep Boosted Her 2024 US Open Performance
Managing the recovery period is just as important for elite tennis players as the actual matches. The No. 2 seed in the 2024 US Open, Aryna Sabalenka, showed incredible fortitude during a late-night match, demonstrating how much performance can be impacted by getting eight hours of sleep.
Shortly after midnight, the No. 2 seed took the court to face Ekaterina Alexandrova in her third round. Sabalenka went straight to bed after outlasting the No. 29 seed in three sets to continue her brilliant summer.
On Sunday, Sabalenka laughed as she recalled, “That was really late start.” Indeed. I’m not sure. You know, you don’t really care about timing while you’re playing in the tournament’s later stages”. “Alright, let’s suppose that I’m in Europe and it’s morning practice. Like, I don’t give a damn! All I want is to succeed and get home”.
“I returned at three in the morning, went to bed at four, and was totally stone cold. I just fell asleep, which is not how I typically sleep, but I was able to get around eight hours, so that was good. I practiced late. I underwent therapy.
The current Australian Open winner faced her close friend and former doubles partner Elise Mertens on the court less than 48 hours later.
Speaking on her third round of recovery, she said, “Yeah, I felt actually okay.” It wasn’t a particularly physical match, even though we played a three-set battle that lasted for about an hour and twenty or thirty minutes. Yes, I’m relieved that I didn’t play for three hours. After that, I dunno, I would definitely return at five in the morning, and that would be a bit of a challenge!
She smiled and said, “The main thing is that I’m really happy that I was able to sleep eight hours, which is, you know, not bad.”
She defeated the No. 33 seed 6-2, 6-4, playing extremely clean, high-octane tennis with an incredible 41 wins to just 28 errors.
She beamingly said, “I really enjoy playing here.” “What a fantastic crowd. I truly enjoy playing in these large venues and am overwhelmed by the reception. You know, I just don’t want to leave here too soon. All I want to do is take in the lovely court and atmosphere for as long as I can.
It’s possible that Sabalenka started to experience delayed onset weariness at this point. That’s probably why I kind of enjoy that this place is consistent—wait, consistent. No. Always right here. Yes.
She smiled and said, “Oh my God, it’s not that late, but my brain is not working right now.”
Nothing that can’t be resolved with eight more hours of sleep. In her quarterfinal matchup with Olympic medalists Zheng Qinwen or Donna Vekic, Sabalenka intends to be well-rested after a late start on Sunday night or Monday morning.
