World number one Aryna Sabalenka said on Sunday she was feeling hopeful going into the \u2060lead-up to the US Open after a string of disappointing Grand Slam results earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old Belarusian failed to reach \u200cthe quarter-finals at Wimbledon last month and was defeated in the quarters at the French \u200cOpen in June. In January, she lost in the final at \u200cthe Australian Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have huge hopes,\u201d Sabalenka<\/a> told reporters in Toronto of \u200creturning to the hard court for the Canadian Open, where she \u200cwill play her opening match on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that clay and grass… was that bad. I was trying a couple things, things didn\u2019t go the way \u200cI expected.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd now we\u2019re kind of back to \u2060the basics, and I really hope \u200cit\u2019s going to work out well on the hard court again.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n That meant bringing \u200bback the baseline game and making sure she was confident there, she said.<\/p>\n Sabalenka said the run-in to the US Open could \u200bbe tricky for players, especially those who had gone far at previous tournaments.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you go far in the grass court, you feel really \u2060fatigued and you\u2019re not \u200bable to pull out any good tennis,\u201d she said, before adding with a laugh: \u201cBut this year I didn\u2019t do well, so I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she was in good spirits after some much-needed rest, and had suffered physically \u200cand mentally during the summer swing but was eager to get back on court.<\/p>\n