Along with finding her rhythm, Sabalenka dealt with the additional pressure of seeing legends Roger Federer and Rod Laver—for whom the stadium was named—sitting front row.
“I’m a huge fan,” said Sabalenka, who asked the iconic duo for a selfie after the match. “Yeah, the whole match I was just telling myself, do not look there, please, do not look!
“But yeah, it’s incredible. I would never thought that Roger Federer and Rod Laver are going to be sitting first row watching my match. Yeah, that’s unbelievable.”
Coming to net 22 times against Rakotomanga Rajaonah, was the top seed inspired by Federer and Laver’s all-court play?
“Yes, of course, I just wanted to impress Roger with my game!” said Sabalenka. “I just couldn’t do tweener, but it’s okay. Next time…”
Sabalenka will be back on court for her second round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Bai Zhouxuan.