Sabalenka asks Swiatek for an assist during Rome press conference

Media day means lots of questions from reporters, and sometimes players are caught a bit off guard, and are unsure of how best to respond.

Such was the case on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, when World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was asked to opine on why WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz matches sometimes take odd twists and turns and produce unconventional results, such as 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 scores. 

Sabalenka was understandably a bit stumped, so she called for a lifeline: Iga Swiatek.

"Do you want to help me to answer this very difficult question?" Sabalenka asked the World No. 3, who happened to be in the press room. 

The friendly rivals shared a laugh before Sabalenka, who turned 28 that day, did her best to answer the question.

"That's a very interesting question," she said. "I think the level, it's pretty high. If you lose focus for one game, it's gone, the set is gone. It's not very easy to stay focused from the very beginning to the very end. That's the only explanation that I have, is because the level is getting higher, which requires more focus and more of a consistency and a better level."

The top seed in Rome, Sabalenka is coming off her first loss since the Australian Open final. She was upset by American Hailey Baptiste 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the Madrid quarterfinals, in a match where Baptiste saved six match points.

Sabalenka has never won the Internazionali BNL d'Italia title, though she made the final in 2024, losing to Swiatek.

She received a first-round bye, and will play her opening match against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova on Thursday. Sabalenka has won six of their seven career meetings, though they haven't played since the 2024 Australian Open. Sabalenka won their lone match on clay, 6-2, 6-3 in Stuttgart in 2023.