Aryna Sabalenka was in a race against time before clinching her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last year. Her father, Sergey has an enormous contribution to her career. A few years back Sabalenka shared the heart-wrenching story of her dad on Netflix’s Break Point. What motivated her to share her emotional story with her fans on that day?

Recently the 2023 Australian Open champion gave out the reason for talking about that incident in front of tens of millions of people. Was it difficult to put her feelings in words that day?

Aryna Sabalenka’s motivational story – ‘felt like its tough’

Sabalenkas’s father who was a former ice-hockey player had suddenly died in 2019 at the age of 43. But his wish was to see her daughter having ‘a couple of Grand Slams before 25’. Did Sabalenka manage to achieve that? Well, she had already tasted success twice at the Grand Slam events clinching doubles titles in her career until 2023. But she always wanted to win a major singles title. And, with just 98 days before she turned 25, she achieved her goal and fulfilled her father’s wish at the 2023 Australian Open. 

Here’s what she said recently when asked about her decision to talk about that incident in late 2022. “I don’t know, I just feel super connected with my, I don’t know, fans, I wanted to open up for them. And, just to hear the story,I don’t know. I felt like probably my story will motivate someone or will help someone in tough situation to find the way through. Like, when you lose somebody, it’s really tough – especially someone like your father, for example,” Aryna Sabalenka.

She added, “I know that some people are struggling with the same situation, I just felt like it’s tough. But you can also find kind of like motivation to keep going in life, keep doing your thing just for the memory of somebody. I really hope that my story will help somebody else in this situation to keep going and keep doing their best.“

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The 25-year-old Belarusian is on a dream run at the ‘Happy Slam’ this year. Can she defend her title this year? Well, looking at her performance in the last few matches her fans have started their celebrations already in ‘Land Down Under.’

Sabalenka advances to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Australian Open

The world number 2 defeated the American, Amanda Anisimova earlier today by 6-3,6-2 at the Margaret Court Arena. It took only 70 minutes to seal the deal for the former number one. With this win, Sabalenka has now become the first ever player since Serena Williams to reach six consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals. 

After the match, she expressed her love for the fans and said, “Thank you so much for the atmosphere. I love playing in front of you. That’s why I’m getting stronger because I enjoy the atmosphere so much and I really want to stay here as long as I can, till the last day and hopefully we can get this one more time. Thank you so much, guys.”

Aryna Sabalenka has just conceded 11 games in 4 matches. She’ll play her next match on Tuesday. Do you think she will reach the finals this year?

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