Aryna Sabalenka is the world number one, and for good reason, as she continues to dominate her WTA rivals.
The Belarusian star has held the WTA number one ranking for 38 consecutive weeks, ahead of her closest rivals Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.
A three-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka has threatened to add to her major tally in 2025, reaching the finals of both the Australian Open and French Open.
Unfortunately for her, she came up short on both occasions, as Sabalenka lost to Madison Keys in Melbourne and to Gauff in Paris.
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Looking to right those wrongs in London, Sabalenka made a strong start to her Wimbledon campaign, winning her opening match in straight sets.
The woman who Sabalenka beat in round one has now said she wants to play the 27-year-old again ‘really badly’.
Carson Branstine wants to play Aryna Sabalenka again ‘really badly’ after Wimbledon defeat
Appearing as a guest on ‘The Slice Tennis’, Branstine reflected on her defeat to Sabalenka at SW19.
“I mean, the first set was not great, and a lot of people thought I was nervous. I’ve already said this around, but I actually wasn’t nervous once I was out there. It was just like… You think you have a game plan, but she’s number one in the world. So it doesn’t really matter what you do; she can clearly beat anybody,” said Branstine.
“When I went out there in the first set, I kind of felt like I was trying to find my ground, like, where does my game match up with this girl?
“It’s not like I have a lot of experience behind me to know how my game matches up with top ten players, because the only top 20 player I’ve played and beaten was [Liudmila] Samsonova, a couple of weeks earlier.
“Her career high was 12th. I was clearly the better player on that day; she wasn’t injured, she didn’t have a bad day, I just outplayed her, I was the better tennis player on that day in Holland.
“But playing someone like [Aryna] Sabalenka is completely different, because she beats girls top ten 6-0, 6-1 sometimes, so I’m like, I don’t know what the heck is going on.”
Finding her groove as the match went on, Branstine thinks she now knows why she lost to the world number one.
“Once I had that first game and had that funny moment, and celebrated with the crowd. I was like, ok, I’ve been in a lot of these games, even though I’m making errors, I’m still hitting winners, and my serve could be so much better, so let’s just go on that, see if I can hold,” she said.
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“Then I started to hold every time, realised that when we got into the rallies, I was winning most of the long rallies.
“Looking at the stats afterwards, even though it was 6-1, 7-5, we both hit the same number of winners, we both hit 17 winners in the match, I had seven aces, she only had three.
“All of the dictating stats, I was equal or better; it was just unforced errors. That’s a huge thing, knowing I was the one making mistakes, I was beating myself, taking that away with confidence.
“I have game, I have weapons, the sky is the limit now, I just have to back it up and keep going, take care of the details, and see.”
Knowing that the unforced errors cost her, Branstine can’t wait for a rematch with the world number one and an opportunity to address those mistakes.
“I want to play her again really badly,” she said.
“Not in a bad way, I think she’s super nice, I actually love her personality, but I think it’s exciting.”
Set to debut at a career-high ranking of 174th on Monday, it may still be some time before Branstine and Sabalenka regularly face off on the WTA Tour.
At 24 years of age, there’s plenty of time for Branstine to rise up the rankings, an opportunity she awarded herself by choosing not to quit the sport earlier this year.
Carson Branstine nearly quit tennis before the 2025 French Open
Before 2025, Branstine had never appeared at a Grand Slam event, whether that be the main draw or qualifying.
Setting herself a target of making the cut for French Open qualifying, the Canadian planned to quit the sport if she failed.
“I was pretty keen on following through with it,” said Branstine.
“At the same time, in my head, I was like, I have to be playing the worst tennis not to make it. I’d have to lose every match in the next two months not to make it, that’s not impossible, but close.”
Branstine went as far as applying for another job outside of tennis, which she now admits she would have taken.
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“I was pretty certain that I was going to do it, but I applied for a venture capital job, I got called back and everything, I felt like if I had gone for that, I would for sure have been hired,” she said.
“It was in downtown LA, I knew what my salary would have been. I was that far [along].
“If it wasn’t Roland Garros, it’s something else.”
Branstine made the cut, and won her opening match in French Open qualifying, as she decided to continue playing tennis.
Now a solid top 200 player, Branstine will continue to play lower-tier tournaments in a bid to build her ranking.
Branstine will return to action at the Evansville ITF tournament, which begins on Monday, July 21.