World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has risked alarming her coaching staff with a candid admission over her nutrition. The 27-year-old is currently competing at the Cincinnati Open, and yesterday beat Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets to ease into the last-eight.
There, she’ll face ninth seed Elena Rybakina. The tournament will be her last before defending her US Open crown this month, having withdrawn from the mixed doubles event following injury to partner Grigor Dimitrov. However, her coach Anton Dubrov may now keep a close eye on her eating patterns in New York after she confessed she’s partial to junk food.
In an interview with the Tennis Channel, she opened up about her tendency to cheat on her strict diet. She said: “Some of my cheat meals are like it’s full on, you know.
“It’s hamburgers, it can be pizza, it can be gummies. It can be a lot of different things in one day because you know, like if it’s a cheat meal, you got to go full, you know.”
Honing in on her biggest flaw, the Belarusian went into more detail than her mentors may have wanted to hear, adding: “But hamburgers, that’s my weakness, cheesy and soft and a really good meat and hot and the bun is still melting with the cheese.”
According to ITF Tennis, professional players are advised to eat a minimum of approximately 2,500 calories a day. The suggested foods differ somewhat from Sabalenka’s favourites, although fans might argue that it hasn’t done the star any harm.
She remains the world’s top-ranked female player, the same position in which she finished 2024. She began the season by retaining her Australian Open crown, although she came up short at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Her latest victory was her 50th on the WTA Tour this year. She’ll face a stiff test from ex-Wimbledon champion Rybakina, though, after needing a deciding set tie-break to beat her in their last meeting at the Grass Court Championships in Berlin this summer.