Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion, has captivated the tennis world with her ferocious style and unyielding spirit, but her journey to the pinnacle of the sport nearly ended in 2022 when persistent serving struggles pushed her to the brink of retirement. In a candid interview ahead of the 2025 Australian Open, the 26-year-old Belarusian opened up about the mental and technical turmoil that plagued her during that challenging season, revealing how close she came to walking away from tennis. “I thought maybe it was a sign to quit and do something else,” Sabalenka confessed, reflecting on a year marked by a staggering 428 double faults, the most on the WTA Tour. Yet, her love for the game and relentless determination transformed a potential breaking point into a career-defining turning point.
The 2022 season was a low point for Sabalenka, whose powerful serve—once a weapon ranking her among the tour’s top ace producers—became a liability. Across her first two matches at the Adelaide International, she racked up 39 double faults, a statistic that underscored both technical flaws and mental strain. “We truly tried everything to fix my serve and nothing worked,” she told Cosmopolitan, describing the frustration of a year where she averaged 7.78 double faults per match. Her struggles were compounded by off-court challenges, including the emotional weight of Belarus’s role as an ally in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to her ban from Wimbledon and scrutiny over her neutral stance. “I just understand that it’s not my fault,” she said at the time, navigating the delicate balance of staying apolitical while facing criticism from players like Lesia Tsurenko’s coach, who called her comments on Ukraine lacking compassion.
Sabalenka’s internal deadline to win a Grand Slam by age 25, a dream shared with her late father, Sergey, who passed away in 2019, added further pressure. “I lost my father four years ago. We had one dream, that before 25 I will win a couple of Grand Slams,” she shared in the Netflix series *Break Point*, which captured her 2022 struggles. The weight of unmet expectations and relentless double faults led her to a dark moment. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Okay, it’s time for me to give up and to quit … it’s time for me to retire,’” she admitted to Harper’s Bazaar. Yet, her father’s lessons of resilience—instilled from her childhood in Minsk, where he introduced her to tennis at age six—kept her fighting. “The way he raised me, he always told me that you have to fight. You have to work hard,” she recalled.
The turning point came when Sabalenka enlisted a biomechanics coach after the 2022 Canadian Open, embarking on a grueling overhaul of her serve. “I had to stay strong and try one more time, try something else to figure out my problem,” she said, crediting her team’s support for her perseverance. The results were transformative: by 2024, her double faults dropped to 2.92 per match, and she notched 307 aces, ranking outside the top 15 for double faults. This technical breakthrough propelled her to her first Grand Slam title at the 2023 Australian Open, followed by victories at the 2024 Australian Open and US Open, cementing her as the WTA’s year-end No. 1. “It took me a lot to get where I am right now, and I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices,” she told Harper’s Bazaar, reflecting on the hard work behind her ascent.
Sabalenka’s resilience shone through despite personal tragedies, including the loss of her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov in March 2024, which she faced during the Miami Open. Her ability to channel grief into focus has defined her career, earning her the nickname “The Tiger” for her fierce on-court presence and tiger tattoo. “It’s all about support,” she emphasized, highlighting the role of her team and partner, Georgios Frangulis, in her success. As she prepares to defend her Australian Open title in 2025, where she fell to Madison Keys in the final, Sabalenka’s journey from near-retirement to world No. 1 stands as a testament to her unbreakable spirit. Her story, marked by sacrifice and triumph, continues to inspire, proving that even when the game seemed to signal “quit,” Sabalenka chose to fight on.
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