On August 2021, Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka rose to Number 2 in the World Rankings. Since then, she had made it to the semifinals of the US Open twice, and in early 2023, she elevated her career even further by winning the 2023 Australian Open.
The Belarusian also made it to the finals of the WTA Tour Finals. She now has 12 career titles to her name and she still keeps winning left and right.
In this guide, we will take a look into the career of the Belarusian superstar, known for her aggressive style of play.
Early Life and Junior Career
Aryna Siarhiejena Sabalenka was born on May 5, 1998, in Minsk, Belarus. At six feet tall, she is one of the taller players in the WTA.
Her father was a hockey player and she only started playing tennis by chance after her father drove by some tennis courts. In 2014, he started training at the National Tennis Academy in her hometown.
She started playing in the juniors in the U14s and U16s and she won a couple of junior titles including the Estonian Junior Open. She also played in the European Junior Championships in 2015.
Also in 2015, she was persuaded by the Belarusian Tennis Federation to focus on playing low-level professional tennis events instead of playing in junior matches. Even if, at that age, she was still eligible to play in the juniors.
Breaking Into the Top 100
Sabalenka started playing in the ITF Womens Circuit in 2012 even before she played in the juniors.
In the 2015 season, she won her first two pro titles. The wins helped her break into the Top 300 of the WTA Rankings. She also made her Fed Cup debut in November of that year, finishing at Number 137 in the World Rankings.
In 2017, the young Belarusian broke into the Top 100 for the first time, debuting at Number 76 in the World Rankings. At the end of that year, she bagged her biggest title to date the Mumbai Open. This helped her finish the year at Number 73.
WTA Newcomer of the Year
By 2018, Sabalenka was playing exclusively for the WTA. At the start of the year, she had two quarterfinals finishes.
Through the summer, she continued rising through the rankings and she also reached the third round of the Canadian Open and later, the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open. That year, she won her first WTA Tour Title, the Connecticut Open after defeating Carla Suarez Navarro.
She also played in the US Open that year and made it all the way to the fourth round. For her excellent performance that year, she was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year.
Doubles Success
2019 was a great year of the Belarusian, not only as a singles player but as a doubles player as well.
She started partnering with Elise Mertens and the two played in Grand Slams, winning the US Open. Prior to that, she also won Indian Wells. By the end of the year, Sabalenka and Mertens had risen to No.2 and No.3 in the world rankings.
She was also paired with Mertens when she won the 2021 Australian Open. That win helped propel her to No.1 in the doubles rankings.
Rise to World Number 2
Sabalenkas star continued to rise in 2021. She started the year by making it to the fourth round of the Australian Open in the third round of the French Open. She also later made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon.
That grass-court win helped her become World Number 2 on August 23, 2021.
Continued Success in 2022
In 2022, Sabalenka held on to her World Number 2 rankings. She started the year by finishing in the fourth round of the Aussie Open, then she was in the third round of the French Open.
That year, she was absent from Wimbledon as the All-England Club and Wimbledon did not allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to play in the grass-court events in the country.
That year, she made it to the semifinals of the US Open for the second time in a row. That year, she also won 2 tour-level titles and made it to three finals.
Australian Open Success
Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam title early in 2023 at the Aussie Open. She entered the Grand Slam as the fifth seed.
On her way to the title, she won against Tereza Martincova, Shelby Rogers, Elise Mertens, Belinda Bencic, Donna Vekic, and Magda Linette. Her finals match was against 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
Winnings and Endorsements
As of April 2023, Sabalenka has won US$14 Million in prize money, which makes her the 35th highest-earning tennis player.
In addition to her winnings, Sabalenka also earns from her sponsorships. She works with Nike and she also has an endorsement deal with Wilson.
Road to World Number 1
Iga Swiatek has been World Number for 50 straight weeks and it looks like she will be holding on to the Number 1 spot for a little longer yet. But that has not dampened any of Sabalenkas hopes to eventually rise to the top spot.
Sabalenka had admitted that she does want to rise to World Number 1 but has also said that she knows it will not be an easy feat. She isnt letting the pressure get to her though.
In a recent interview, she said:
“Iga is doing well and I think she is not feeling super pressure of defending so many titles.”
“It’s going to be really tough for me. I have to be really focused and I have to get to the last stages of the tournament(s) to become number one.”
She also said that she will be focusing on herself for now.
“I’m trying to not focus on that. I am trying to focus on my game because I know that, if I am going to bring my game and if I am going to play my best, I will get there. So I am trying to focus on myself.”
Most recently, she and Swiatek went up against each other in the finals of the Stuttgart Open.
With just one Grand Slam down this year, Sabalenka has every chance to overtake Swiatek. There are many more months ahead of the 2023 season. Who knows, maybe the tall Belarusian does have what it takes to become World Number 1.