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The strongly built Sabalenka finished 2020 with
trophies at Ostrava and Linz and arrived in Melbourne for the
year's first Grand Slam after picking up her third straight
title at a WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi.
Sabalenka did not drop a set in her first three rounds before
going down in three against the 39-year-old American in the
fourth last month.
The 22-year-old showed plenty of steel to fight back from 4-1
down in the decider to level the match but her nerves finally
gave way when she committed an array of errors while serving to
stay in the match trailing 5-4.
"I felt like I missed my opportunity because I feel like if you
are coming back from 1-4 and you're kind of feeling your game
and you're there, you're fighting, you just have to take this
opportunity," Sabalenka told reporters in Doha on Monday.
"I felt like mentally I was a little bit up and she was down. I
would say it was not really smart mistakes from me. But it was
good experience because I never played against these kind of
champions like Serena.
"And going on the court, I was kind of like thinking what's
going to happen, how she's playing, what's her power and all
this stuff. Then I step in on the court and I understand, like,
'wow, actually I can play her, I can beat her'."
Sabalenka, who will defend her Qatar Open title this week,
managed to match Williams's power from the baseline but felt her
approach was not right.
"I can guarantee that my mindset will be different going on the
court," the world number eight said. "I don't know what's going
to happen on the court, but I know that my mindset will be much
stronger than last time.
"Now I know what to expect from her and now I know where her
level is. I think, yeah, it will be different next time."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Clare
Fallon)
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