If Aryna Sabalenka is feeling any pressure as the defending Australian Open women’s champion, the effervescent 25-year-old isn’t showing it.
In her return to the city that delivered her Grand Slam singles breakthrough, Sabalenka has starred in a mixed doubles exhibition alongside fellow Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic before a sold-out crowd at Rod Laver Arena, danced in a video viewed thousands of times on her social media channels, and climbed metres above the ground on the AO Ballpark high wire.
“I was a bit nervous because I wasn't sure that construction could handle my weight,” she laughed of her adventure at the wonderland created especially for younger fans at the tournament. “That's the only thing I was worried about.”
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As it transpired, the world No.2 needn’t have worried. “But it was fun,” she added. “It was (a) nice experience. (I’m) actually wondering why I didn't do this kind of stuff when I was a kid. Probably no time for that – I was practising a lot.”
Sabalenka can reasonably take a similarly relaxed approach into the defence of her Australian Open title. Since departing Melbourne as the tennis world’s newest major champion last summer, she has featured in some of the WTA’s most absorbing battles – including a three-set final against world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the final of Madrid, which delivered Sabalenka with her 13th WTA singles title.
She was also runner-up to Coco Gauff at the recent US Open, with any disappointment of that loss partly tempered by her rise to the world No.1 ranking in the release of the next week’s rankings. Sabalenka reigned in top spot until the end of the season, when Swiatek reascended the summit as the WTA Finals champion.
Even a one-sided loss to Elena Rybakina in last week’s Brisbane International final – in a rematch of their breathtaking AO 2023 championship match – was accompanied by an overall sense of positivity about her return to Australia.
“Elena just played incredible tennis. She just crushed it. I tried to do my best, and I'm just thankful for those three games (that I won),” reasoned Sabalenka, choosing to focus instead consider the bigger picture.
“Before the finals, I think I played really great tennis. Everything worked on the pre-season. Everything worked on match. That's what we are happy with. Even though the finals didn't go well, we still have another week.
“Now it's two more days to go. After the finals, was another week to work on those mistakes and just, yeah, prepare myself as good as I can for Melbourne.”
While a relentless focus to add to career-best performances might be draining for some players, the fun-loving Sabalenka is energised by the constant quest for improvement.
“Honestly, that's what I've been doing my whole life. When I am not working, like, on the days off, I'm just sitting in the room or in the house doing nothing, for me, this is impossible,” she told media in Melbourne.
“For me, staying at home, it's super boring. It's something impossible to do. I find working hard is actually a lot of fun. I enjoy it. For me, that's not really tough to keep working hard, keep improving myself. I've been doing it my whole life.”
While developing as a player, Sabalenka is also continually evolving as a person. The world No.2 has shared candid insights into the highs and lows of her playing life as one of the stars in the Netflix 'Break Point' series. The bond with her father, Sergey, who suddenly passed away just as she was breaking into the world’s top 10 in 2019 is a strong narrative in Sabalenka’s episodes.
“It was a great time for Netflix to join my team and film it and show people that we are also struggling a lot, that there is not only amazing moments, and we are not only having fun, there is something we are working on and we are struggling with. It's always up and downs,” she related.
“I’m (an) open person. For me, it's not that hard to speak about my life and just tell my story. For me, was important to share my story with the people. I hope that people feel closer to me right now and they understand myself better.”
In the immediate future, Sabalenka’s is happily on a seventh main-draw campaign in Melbourne, which will begin with a first-round meeting with a qualifier or lucky loser.
“I'm super happy to be back,” she smiled. “Really, I just can't wait to play my first match here in Melbourne.”