Sabalenka confesses: “I didn’t want to be a Grand Slam champion just once”
Aryna Sabalenka completely dominated the 2024 Australian Open, sweeping the competition in emphatic fashion. The Belarusian did not drop a single set, lost just 31 games, and won her second Grand Slam of her career, something that left her relieved.
AVOID BEING A ‘ONE-HIT WONDER’
It’s very sad that a Grand Slam champion is called a ‘one-hit wonder’, but of course for a while that was in my mind, I didn’t want to be a Grand Slam champion just once. I’m super happy to have won two titles in the category, but I hope I can continue to build my tennis and, with luck, win.
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SURRENDERED TO HER TEAM
I love my team, they are the best. After any victory or title, they are immediately thinking about how we can improve to continue developing my tennis and evolving. This is essential to stay at the top, to never stop improving. Of course, there is time to enjoy the triumphs, but it is all about the balance of enjoying and leaving the past in the past, starting as soon as possible to prepare for the next tournaments. With the right people, it is not difficult to find the balance.
CHANGES AS A PERSON
Now I am much more open, I am happy to have made some friends, like with Paula Badosa. Before I was introverted, I was afraid to open up to people, but now I am happy to have a friend like Paula, we are very similar. It is not that I do not respect people now, but before I respected them too much. I am proud to understand myself better, to have this self-control.