Amanda Anisimova knows better than most how difficult life on the tennis tour can be. The American has previously spoken about her struggles with depression, anxiety, and burnout, even admitting that being at tournaments once felt “unbearable.” Experiences like those often make younger players appreciate the people who help create a welcoming environment behind the scenes. And according to Anisimova, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is one of those people, praising her for making younger players feel comfortable and welcome.

Anisimova has credited Sabalnkea was improving the atmosphere of the WTA locker room. She feels that the Belarusian, despite being a senior player, has normalized treating juniors with respect.

“I love the older players who treat the new ones coming on with respect and make them feel welcome, because it is kind of scary when you are entering a new career,” she said during an interview with the BBC. “I’d say more of the top players have normalized that. Aryna [Sabalenka] is doing a great job of that, being very social and welcoming with a lot of the players.”

Sabalenka isn’t exactly known for being timid on the court. The four-time Grand Slam winner is fierce, aggressive, and can let her emotions boil over in the heat of battle. But away from competition, a different side of her often emerges.

Sabalenka, 28, has worked with charities and organizations, like the WTA’s Global Women’s Health Fund, which is a collaboration with UNICEF, and has also raised money for the USTA foundation, which provides tennis programming, education, and academic mentorship to youth from affected communities. These are just some of the reasons why Anisimova admires her.

Anisimova also shares a close friendship with Spaniard Paula Badosa, and along with Sabalenka, the three form quite the trio, often hanging out between matches on tour. Badosa, also a senior player to Amanda at 28 years old, helps keep the atmosphere in the locker room positive, no matter how tense the action gets on the court. Earlier this year at the Australian Open, Anisimova revealed just that.

“Yeah, I really like that about Aryna and Paula, that they’re able to maintain a fun environment when we’re outside of, you know, match play, when we’re able to practice, and just be around each other. It’s very light and fun. Yeah, I really enjoy that,” she had said, as quoted by The Tennis Gazette.

Sabalenka shares close friendships with several players on the WTA Tour, something that is not always easy for one of the game’s biggest stars. Tempers can flare, arguments can break out, and heartbreaking losses are inevitable. But for Sabalenka, those moments stay on the court and do not change how she treats people off it. Badosa herself spoke about that side of her back in 2024.

“We need players with this kind of charisma. Off the court, she’s a nice person, very genuine, always trying to help. I think players that are so good in their sport, and they’re, like, very normal and very humble,” she said.

Sabalenka, who has won three WTA Tour titles so far in 2026, has been on tour for almost a decade. It’s safe to say she has shared the locker room with many legends, and she now uses that experience to help newcomers feel at home on the circuit. At the same time, not all of her experiences have been pleasant.

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine drastically altered her life on tour and changed the way some people treated her. Perhaps that is why she does not want others to go through the kind of treatment she had to endure.

Aryna Sabalenka had to encounter a severe level of “hate”

Sabalenka is from Belarus, a country with close ties to Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, who faced widespread international condemnation for launching the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russians and Belarusians faced sanctions across multiple sectors, and athletes from many sports were barred from representing their countries on the global stage. For Sabalenka, however, that was the least of her worries.

The WTA Tour is full of Ukrainian athletes who were not happy about the fact that players from Russia and Belarus were allowed to compete. Current World No. 8 Elina Svitolina was among those calling for a total ban on the likes of Sabalenka.  The environment in the locker room that Sabalenka tried to keep positive became very toxic for her.

“It was really, really tough for me because I’ve never faced that much hate in the locker room,” she had said during a press conference ahead of the 2023 Miami Open. “Of course, there are a lot of haters on Instagram when you’re losing the matches, but like in the locker room, I’ve never faced that.

It was really tough for me to understand that there are so many people who really hate me for no reason, like no reason. I mean, like I did nothing,” the Belarusian star added.

Things have improved since then. Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian players are not the best of friends and still avoid shaking hands most of the time. But they have learned to coexist. And for Sabalenka, for whom smiles and laughter are a big part of life on tour, that is a major improvement.