Aryna Sabalenka is serving up grit and success to etch her name in tennis history

26 Jan 2025

The Belarusian is on track to become one of the greatest tennis players of her generation.

At just over 1.8m, Aryna Sabalenka is one of the tallest players on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Judging by the rate at which she’s climbing, with three Grand Slams already to her name, the world No 1 is poised to scale even greater heights.

In 2024 Sabalenka added her own chapter in the book of tennis history when she won two Grand Slams in that season – the Australian and US opens. This added to her first Slam, which came at the Australian Open in 2023.

In the process Sabalenka became just the second WTA player in recent times to clinch two Slams in the same year. The other player who achieved this is her rival Iga Świątek.

Świątek achieved the feat in 2022 when she clinched the French and US opens. Before the Pole’s landmark year, the last women’s tennis star who had achieved this was Germany’s Angelique Kerber, all the way back in 2016.

Accidental start

Sabalenka’s introduction to tennis was purely accidental. Whereas most of her current peers are likely to have shown an early disposition for the sport, Sabalenka stumbled upon it, with a little nudging from her father, Sergey Sabalenka.

The senior Sabalenka – who was an ice hockey player – happened to see a tennis court when he and his daughter were on a drive around their neighbourhood. At that time Sabalenka was just six years old and did not have the slightest interest in the sport. She eventually adjusted to it and fell in love with it.

“One day my dad was just driving me somewhere in the car, and on the way he saw tennis courts. So, he took me to the courts. I really… enjoyed it and that’s how… it started,” Sabalenka reminisced.

Two decades later, Sabalenka is one of the world’s best players. She is one of just a handful of stars still active in the WTA with three or more Slams to their names. This exclusive list includes Świątek, who has won five, Naomi Osaka (four) and Venus Williams (seven).

When she clinched her first Grand Slam, the Australian Open in 2023, Sabalenka dedicated the victory to her father. He had dreamt of seeing his daughter clinch a couple of Slams in his lifetime. Unfortunately, he could not realise this dream, since he died of meningitis in 2019 at the age of 43.

“I just feel that he’s always with me. I’m very thankful for everything he did for me, and if not for him I wouldn’t be here,” said Sabalenka of her father’s influence after clinching her second Australian Open in 2024.

Her bid for a second successive triumph at the 2025 Australian Open was halted by American Madison Keys at the weekend, but before the season’s first Slam Sabalenka had spoken to Vogue about her motivation:

“When I feel exhausted, I just remind myself how much I wanted this when I was a kid. That’s what helps me to stay hungry and to keep going, to keep chasing my dream. I want to go as far as I can, so that when I retire, I can sit back and be proud of myself.”

Winning amid loss

After defending her Australian Open title in 2024, Sabalenka suffered a setback when her former longtime boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov committed suicide just a couple of months after she clinched her second Slam.

Even though the couple were separated at the time, Sabalenka said she was heavily affected by the former ice hockey player’s death. She tried to deal with it the same way she dealt with her father’s passing – by playing tennis.

“I lost my father and tennis helped me to go through that tough loss,” she said. “So, at that moment [of Koltsov’s death] I thought I had to just keep going, keep playing, keep doing my thing to separate my personal life from my career life,” Sabalenka told The Guardian.

“But at the end I would say I was struggling a lot healthwise, because I didn’t stop. It was really emotional and really stressful, and kind of damaged my mental health at that point,” said Sabalenka.

This stubbornness to continue working despite the grief-induced mental turmoil she was engulfed by saw Sabalenka crash out of the quarterfinals in the French Open, falling to Russia’s Mirra Andreeva.

“Looking back right now, I would say that a better decision would have been to step back, reset and recharge; start everything over again. But I did what I did. In the end I paid for my decision. But I’m really glad that I have tennis in my life and it’s really helped me go through whatever and get stronger,” Sabalenka said.

At just 26, Sabalenka has some time to firmly entrench herself in tennis history. Just how far she’ll go will depend on her consistency, fitness and continued hunger. One person who will constantly be pushing her is Świątek.

The Pole has major respect for her rival; the pair have constantly jostled for the No 1 spot since Sabalenka first ascended to the top of the WTA rankings in late 2023.

“We’re the most consistent players on tour, and this is also what the rivalry is about,” Świątek said of her friendly rivalry with Sabalenka. “She’s just solid from every position on the court.”

“She has variety, and she can play flat, she can play topspin. Basically I would say that Aryna is kind of a complete player.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Accidental start

Winning amid loss