From hatred in the locker room to the decision that changed her career: Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian with pure charisma who is going to her second Australian Open

Aryna Sabalenka She is the player of the moment on the WTA circuit. The Belarusian is playing the best tennis of her career and was one victory away from making history on the hard courts of Melbourne Park, where this Saturday – at 5.30pm in Argentina – she will play the final of Australian Open before China Qinwen Zheng. She reached that stage without giving up sets and she could become the twentieth tennis player in history to win the title of that tournament, winning all of her matches in straight sets. Even if not only for her tennis power, she is the great protagonist of this start of the season. The world number two oozes charisma and has managed to win over the oceanic public with her friendliness.

“The last time I played on that court I didn’t have so much support. But today I felt it. They really made me feel at home. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…”he assured in full court after defeating Zheng to enter the decisive duel of the oceanic “greats” for the second consecutive year.

The ovation they gave him was surpassed only by the one he received a few minutes later, at the request of Jelena Dokictasked with interviewing her after the match, he signed two official towels for the former player to be auctioned to benefit an organization that helps young people and women who are victims of domestic violence.

“I asked you to sign one and without hesitation you told me “I’ll give you another one”. That’s why we love you. “You’re a fierce fighter on the court, but a compassionate and kind person when you’re not competing,” Dokic said.

Owner of a very aggressive tennis, which hurts due to the force with which he hits the ball from his height of 1.82 meters, he stands out for his physical power but also for his mobility and flexibility. A few days ago, a video went viral in which she is seen easily knocking down a bottle that she placed over the head of a member of her coaching staff. Neither Novak Djokovicone of the most “elastic” on the men’s circuit, managed to repeat the feat.

In Melbourne, the 25-year-old Belarusian reached the final after crushing every rival in front of her on the court. She defeated the German 6-0 and 6-1 Ella Seidel, coming from which; by 6-3 and 6-2 for the Czech Brenda Fruhvirtova, also deriving from the previous phase; for a double 6-0 against the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko (28); 6-3 and 6-2 against the American Amanda Anisimova; and 6-2 and 6-3 for the Czech Barbora Krejcikova.

He hadn’t given up more than five plays in his matches until the semifinal against Coco Gauff. She beat the American 7-6 (7-2) and 6-4 to become the first player to reach the finals of the tournament in two consecutive editions since then. Serena Williamswho played in 2016 and 2017.

Intractable, he will aim for his second Slam title against Zheng. If she succeeds, she will become the first to defend the crown in the Greater oceanic from his compatriot Victoria Azarenkachampion in 2012 and 2013. And if she beats the Chinese in two sets, she will be the 20th in history to win in Melbourne without losing any sets and she will write her name alongside great players, such as Margherita Corte, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Maria Sharapova, Azarenka AND Serena.

Sabalenka, who is on a 13-match winning streak at the Australian Open, is undoubtedly enjoying the best moment of her career. And he enjoys it, because he had to work to build this present.

Born in Minsk in 1998, she discovered tennis at the age of 6, when her father Sergey took her to a court and asked her if she wanted to try the sport. Her crush was instant. She had no notable junior career (she hardly played at that level) and was an exceptional doubles player before reaching the elite level of singles. Together with the Belgian Mertens she won the US Open 2020 AND Australia 2021 in doubles and reached the top of the world pairs rankings.

In 2017, at the age of 19, he entered the top 100 of the individual rankings and the following year he won his first titles, in New Haven and Wuhan, and established himself among the top 20. Then he began to seriously dream of the number 1 and big trophies. But when he seemed on his way to achieving great things, he began to suffer from ups and downs, caused by irregularities in his service, which affected his mentality. And after a 2022 with few highlights and several difficult moments – in January, in Adelaidehe committed 61 unforced errors and 21 double faults in one match, in which he ended up crying – after finishing that season he decided it was time for a change.

What did he do? The opposite of what many players do: he stopped working with his psychologist. “I understood that there is no person who can help me more than myself. I spoke to him and told him that I have to manage everything alone, because every time I wait for someone to solve the problem for me, it doesn’t happen “I have to accept my responsibility and face it. Right now, I’m my own psychologist,” she said, laughing.

And he added: “Now I try to stay calmer in matches, to shout less after some missed points or after errors. Just think about the next point and reduce negative emotions.”

The strategy has paid off. Last year she was one of the great protagonists of the circuit. She won her first Major in Australia and played in the semi-finals Roland Garros AND Wimbledon and reached the final US Open, who lost to Gauff. After moving from New York, he also climbed to the top of the charts for the first time, which he held for seven weeks until Iga Swiatek got it back in early November.

The consequences of the war

It hasn’t been all roses for Sabalenka. The war between Ukraine AND Russia (and his ally, Belarus), which has divided the waters in the WTA, has caused it to experience some uncomfortable situations. She said she found it difficult to understand the “hatred” she sees in the locker rooms of the women’s circuit.

“When the war just started I had conversations that I wouldn’t call real clashes, but they were strange, very hard, not with the other players, but with their coaching staff… It was hard, even if things are a little better now,” he commented last March.

And before her debut at Roland Garros, she admitted that she was worried because she didn’t know how the public would react to her presence. There was no hostility from the fans, but she had an embarrassing encounter with a couple of Ukrainian journalists, who asked her several times at a conference about her relationship with the Belarusian president. Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Moscow. Competition authorities considered that Sabalenka had not been treated well by some media due to her nationality and allowed her not to attend press conferences, which are mandatory for top players.

“For my own mental health and well-being I decided not to put myself in that situation and the tournament supported my decision,” he said at the time. “About the war, I have said many times: no one in the world, including Russian and Belarusian athletes, supports this war. How could we do this? Of course we do not support it. And if we could stop it We would, unfortunately “It is not in our hands . And I understand why Ukrainian women don’t want to shake hands with us.”

From a sporting point of view, the defeat in the final in New York against Gauff, who turned the match around after losing the first set (2-6, 6-3 and 6-2), was a hard blow. This was clearly seen in Sabalenka’s reaction when she returned to the locker room after the awards ceremony.

The Belarusian walked into an empty players’ room and, alone, left her bag on the floor, placed the runner-up trophy on top of it and grabbed one of her rackets. Immediately afterwards, she started hitting her on the ground to vent her anger over the lost final. Once, twice, three and four times until it breaks. She stood up, looked for a trash can, and threw it away without saying a word to continue down her street. Everything was filmed by the tournament cameras and the video went viral.

That’s Sabalenka. A relentless competitor and athlete with an insatiable hunger for glory who sometimes finds it difficult to control her temper. He is also a charismatic person, who has no problem showing his emotions. and who usually wins over the public with his sympathy every time he takes to the pitch. And a powerful and aggressive tennis player, who has started 2024 with a bang and is one match away from making history at the Australian Open.