Article by David Istrate – published on Saturday, September 13, 2025, 22:53 / Updated on Saturday, September 13, 2025 22:55
Shortly after winning the US Open for the second year in a row, Aryna Sabalenka (27, 1 WTA) spoke, in an interview, about the death of her father, who came suddenly, in 2019, when he was only 43 years old.
A week ago, on September 6, Aryna Sabalenka was dueling with Amanda Anisimova (24 years old, 4 WTA) in the US Open final and imposed in two sets, score 6-3, 7-6 (3)at the end of a match that lasted an hour and 36 minutes.
Aryna Sabalenka, vulnerable, spoke about her father: “She always knew what to say when I had difficulty.”
After a few days, the world leader was invited to the podcast of the famous Jay Shety, and among the topics addressed was the one related to Sergey's death, Aryna's father. He died in 2019, at the age of 43, and, as expected, the tragedy deeply affected the tennis player.
“I hope not to start crying but it was unexpected. It just happened. It was hard because I was so close to him. We had similar personalities and really understood each other. He always knew what to say when I had difficulty. I could call him and told me some things that clarified everything, “confessed Sabalenka, quoted by Golazo.ro.
“I cried a lot when no one saw me. The best way to cope was to go on the field and train. During the training, I could finally not think about anything. When it was over, the memories were returning and crying again. But the training gave me space to breathe,” the athlete added.
After that year, Aryna Sabalenka followed in the top of world tennis. In 2025, Belarus was qualified in 3 of the 4 Grand Slam finals, but lost the first two, the ones from the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
To the US Open, Sabalenka finally managed to break the ice, get the first major title of this year, and reconfirm its place at the top of the world hierarchy.
