The “curse” of beating Sobolenko: Arina comments on a peculiar and unusual statistic

World No. 1 tennis player Arina Sobolenko of Belarus commented on an interesting and unusual statistic involving tennis players who defeated her in recent tournaments only to exit the competition in the very next round.

This trend had previously been mentioned by former German tennis player and sports commentator Andrea Petkovich.

“What’s the point of beating me if they’re going to lose in the next round?”

Arina Sobolenko responded to journalists’ question with her trademark humor and a smile:

“What’s the point of beating me if they know what will happen in the next round? (laughs).

Seriously, I think it’s just a coincidence. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because all of my recent defeats came in matches that lasted three sets. They were very difficult, grueling and physically exhausting matches. Sometimes an opponent’s next match is scheduled for the very next day, and after such a tough battle, it is difficult to perform at a high level again. So, it’s a scheduling issue,” said the world No. 1.

Sobolenko also jokingly added that this statistic could become a psychological weapon of sorts:

“Overall, the statistic is astonishing. We should talk about it more to put additional psychological pressure on my opponents,” she emphasized.

Unexpected defeat in Toronto

As a reminder, in the fourth round of the tournament being held in Toronto, Canada, Arina Sobolenko lost to Yekaterina Aleksandrova by 6:7 (3:7), 6:4, 4:6 in a dramatic match that lasted 2 hours and 29 minutes.

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