Sabalenka's Wimbledon foe is Carson Branstine, a qualifier from California, Canada, and Texas A&M
There are plenty of tennis players who might be daunted by the prospect of making their Grand Slam debut against someone ranked No. 1 and in a big stadium–in this case, Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon's No. 1 Court. Carson Branstine, though, is embracing the circumstances she'll find herself in Monday.
Branstine, 24, is a dual US-Canadian citizen–she was born in California and represents Canada, where her mother is from–and helped Texas A&M win the 2024 NCAA title. She is ranked just inside the top 200 but made it into the women's bracket at the All England Club by winning three matches in qualifying last week. 'It's not like I'm a beginner. This is my job, too. We're playing the same tournament, right? It's just exciting. It's cool. And I love that for myself,' Branstine said. 'You never know what can happen. And I like it. I wouldn't want it any other way. This is the coolest thing.'
Besides, facing and eliminating the top seed is becoming routine lately for her: This is the third consecutive event this month where Branstine is going up against a foe seeded No. 1. She beat Liudmila Samsonova at a grass-court tournament in the Netherlands, then started off Wimbledon qualifying by defeating Loïs Boisson, who was coming off a surprising run to the French Open semifinals. 'Well, of course I go out with: 'Why not?' Because there's a lot of factors in tennis more than just playing. You never know what can be happening on each side behind closed doors. It's Wimbledon. It's (Sabalenka's) first round. You've seen a lot of players have tight matches in their first rounds against players that you'd never imagine that (it) would be close,' Branstine said. 'That could easily happen on Monday. You never know. With my game, maybe God's going to come down and say, 'You're going to have the best tennis of your life. You're not going to miss a single ball right now.''
Branstine credits her big serve and confidence to match with driving her recent success. When Sabalenka–a three-time Grand Slam champion and the runner-up to Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros three weeks ago–was asked Saturday what she knows about Branstine, her playing style was not what came to mind. 'I know that she's super pretty,' Sabalenka replied with a laugh. 'The other day I opened social media and she was giving an interview. … I was like, 'Oh my God, this girl is so beautiful.' … That's all I know so far.'
Sabalenka planned to discuss tactics with her team and watch some of Branstine's past matches to familiarize herself with what to expect on court. 'It's not easy to face someone you've never seen before,' said Sabalenka, who missed Wimbledon a year ago because of an injured shoulder. 'I know that I'll be prepared for her game.'
This is the sort of stage Branstine thought about getting to when she was a kid attending the tournament in Indian Wells. 'You go and you see those big courts and you imagine, 'What if that was me?' That's my dream. I want to do that one day. And now it's here,' she said. 'So it's a dream I get to check off my list, and no matter what happens I'm going to have that for the rest of my life: I got to play the No. 1 player at Court 1 at Wimbledon. It's pretty cool. So I just want to embrace it, really. I just want to take in the moment and play every single point. It's still another match. … And you know, you never know what can happen.'
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