World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka refuses to re-watch her matches out of embarrassment. The defending US Open champion admits she gets “annoyed” at herself for her “aggressive” on-court persona.
Sabalenka, 27, breezed through her first-round matchup against Rebeka Masarova 7-5, 6-1 to set up a second-round meeting with Polina Kudermetova. The Belarusian will hold onto the world No. 1 spot if she reaches the quarterfinals or further.
Still, she’s looking to win her first Grand Slam of 2025, with Madison Keys winning Down Under, Coco Gauff in Paris, and Iga Swiatek in London. However, Sabalenka, who has seen her former biomechanics coach, Gavin MacMillan, who helped her rebuild her serve in 2022, join Gauff’s team, has admitted that she does not re-watch her old matches.
Sabalenka says she feels “embarrassed” every time she does it because there is a night-and-day difference between how she is off the court and her “aggressive” nature on it. “Well, I leave that part for my team. I don’t like watching myself playing,” she admitted on Boardroom.
“I get annoyed by the way I am on court because it’s so different, and it’s so aggressive, and I feel embarrassed every time. Even though I understand this is the way I have to be successful in what I do. But in preparation for the matches, I watch my opponents just so I can prepare for their game and just to know what to expect.
“And then after matches, my team talks to me and they say, ‘OK, this didn’t work, this worked really well, and this is where we have to improve, and this is what we’re going to do the next day.’ I have a really good team to take care of that.”
Sabalenka has been among the top-ten players on the WTA Tour for the last six years, but reaching No. 1, which she has held for nearly two years. “Well, it’s a long process. Since a very young age, I was dreaming of becoming number one,” Sabalenka added. “It’s hard work.
“The moment I broke through the top 50, and I was getting better and better every year, I felt like maybe I could get there.
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“And then when I broke through the top 10, I had the confidence that one day I’ll be able to reach my goal. I was just working really hard, and I had this strong belief that I’ll be able to break that wall.”
Sabalenka also reflects on where she came from, Belarus, and the hard work she put in to reach the top of women’s tennis. “Yeah, I think whenever you reach any of your goals, the moment you reach it, you just have all of those memories from the past: what you went through, what it actually took you to get where you are. And, yeah, it blows your mind. I went through a lot,” she said.