A few weeks after one of the toughest losses of her season, Aryna Sabalenka found a very different stage to stand on. There was no net, no scoreboard, and no umpire this time, only a catwalk in the middle of Milan. On September 22, the world No. 2 walked the runway at Vogue World: Milano 2026, held at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It was her runway debut, and she did it in Gucci, the brand she has represented as an ambassador since January.

The latest episode, “From the Court to the Runway,” of her YouTube Channel series she created in 2025, ‘Aryna’s Arena’, leads the audience through high fashion, magazine covers, custom jewellery, and a bit of sibling fashion rivalry. When asked what the meaning of style is for her, Sabalenka did not name a designer or a stylist.

“I feel like through fashion, you can really send a message and you can really show who you are,” Sabalenka stated in the video. “I feel like my mom really influenced a lot my style and the vision of beauty of a woman. So my mom was my inspiration.” 

The answer is a personal one, and it’s a reflection of her level of interest in the subject. She was not talking about a passing fad, but of where her own eye for beauty had come from. 

The Milan debut did not happen in isolation. Milan was the fifth edition of Vogue World, following New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles. According to reports, Sabalenka took catwalk advice from supermodel Irina Shayk beforehand. 

Other than Milan, that seriousness has carried her into some of the biggest rooms in fashion. In May, she appeared on the digital cover of American Vogue, photographed by Steven Klein in head-to-toe Gucci at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach. It was not her first Vogue cover either. 

After winning her second straight Australian Open title in 2024, she posed for a digital cover of Vogue Australia and was dressed entirely by Australian designers. Next year, she added Harper’s Bazaar Australia, Flaunt and Ocean Drive to the list. 

Sabalenka truly believes that tennis can do a lot for fashion, and it has immense potential to explore in the sport. The two worlds have moved closer toward each other in the last two decades, starting with the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, and now Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka are taking forward the legacy.

Sabalenka sees tennis and fashion finally crossing over

Aryna Sabalenka feels the two industries are closer than ever, and she has been on the receiving end of that shift. 

“It’s incredible to see how tennis world really crossing with fashion nowadays,” the Belarusian added. “I love to see that and I love to get invitation to go to like fashion shows. It sounds almost impossible, but anything is possible. So I’m really happy to have this opportunity.” 

A few days after losing the US Open final to Coco Gauff in 2023, she attended the Vogue World in London. She thanked Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful on Instagram for inviting her to the show. Back then, she was a guest at that event, and now she is a cover star in it. 

“Tennis is a huge sport. A lot of eyes is on tennis.” Her own reach backs that up. As of now, she has around 7.5 million followers across her social media platforms, Instagram contributing 5.8 million of it and 1.7 million on TikTok. Other platforms like X and YouTube have smaller margins. Sabalenka wants to use that platform to show off her taste on the court itself. 

“It’s really cool sport to express yourself and to bring fashion into it. And I really love to see how it crosses these two absolutely different worlds. I love to have opportunity to bring fashion on court, to make tennis look even more fun and more unique.” 

She has been doing exactly that. At this year’s US Open, she wore a statement jewellery piece, a custom 83.2 carat multicoloured gemstone which she carried with her through the finals, before she just fell short of a third title in a row in New York. 

Her next chance to blend both worlds comes at the Wuhan Open, where she is the top seed after world No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew with a foot injury. Sabalenka lost the top ranking to Rybakina in New York, so Wuhan offers a chance to close that gap. She won the title in 2018, 2019, and 2024, so she knows the event well. If she goes deep again, her on-court looks will be on show for every match.