{"id":550417,"date":"2026-03-28T12:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550417\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T12:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T12:42:18","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-given-offensive-nickname-as-world-no-1-responds-not-nice-tennis-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550417\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka given ‘offensive’ nickname as world No. 1 responds – ‘not nice’ | Tennis | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> is known as the \u2018Tiger\u2019. The world No. 1 was born in 1998, the year of the tiger, and has a tattoo of the big cat inked across her forearm. The tiger has become a running theme for the four-time Grand Slam champion, who recently wore a fluffy, tiger-print Gucci jacket worth \u00a336k ($48k) at a party in Miami, and often receives tiger-themed gifts from fans.<\/p>\n

However, Sabalenka says her own team haven\u2019t been so kind, instead giving her a more \u201coffensive\u201d nickname. The world No. 1 has a tight-knit group around her, including tennis coaches Anton Dubrov and Max Mirnyi, and performance coach Jason Stacy. They have a great relationship, and Sabalenka has even dubbed them \u2018Team Tiger\u2019, but it seems they\u2019ve not been as nice in return.<\/p>\n

After reaching the Miami Open semi-finals, Sabalenka was asked about nicknames and joked that her support team had a very different monicker for her, which she couldn\u2019t repeat. \u201cA nickname from myself, I guess it\u2019s just Tiger,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow my team calls me\u2026 That\u2019s going to be really offensive! I wish they would call me a tiger, but it\u2019s something else, not that nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka\u2019s team might change their tune if she pulls off a rare feat and completes the Sunshine Double this weekend \u2013 winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back. The world No. 1 is now just two match wins away from doing the double.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be honest. I enjoy our rivalry, and I enjoy our battles,\u201d Sabalenka said ahead of their second meeting in 11 days. \u201cI really enjoy it because we both push each other to the limit, and I feel like this kind of match makes me a better player, and this is where I actually grow. So I really enjoy it. There\u2019s nothing that really bothers me. I\u2019m super excited to play her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka is also the reigning champion in Miami. Should she defend her title, she\u2019ll become the fifth woman to complete the Sunshine Double, and the first since Iga Swiatek<\/a> in 2022. But she\u2019s trying not to think about it<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s really important to keep the same routine, not really pay attention to the rounds,\u201d she told Tennis Channel. \u201cJust take it one step at a time, it doesn’t matter if it\u2019s the first round, if it\u2019s the final, I think that\u2019s important. I feel like if you start changing your routine, at the end of the tournament, this is where you shift your focus and you give too much attention to this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka is known as the \u2018Tiger\u2019. The world No. 1 was born in 1998, the year of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[652,244973,244972,120380,99,428,4563],"class_list":{"0":"post-550417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-aryna-sabalenka","9":"tag-aryna-sabalenka-team","10":"tag-aryna-sabalenka-tiger","11":"tag-miami-open","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-tennis-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}