Aryna Sabalenka has risen to the top of women’s tennis and sealed two Grand Slams amid a backdrop of resilience and as revealed by her childhood coach, Maciej Domka went through a backdrop of struggles.
In particular Domka said that her father who she previously said she wanted to win multiple Grand Slams before she was 25 for was undergoing legal issues and her parents did not show up for training so she was alone in her pursuit for greatness.
But despite this being the case, Domka said that she wanted to stand out and leave a lasting impression with that inner motivation to succeed always being there amid a backdrop of pain and anger. This worked with Sabalenka becoming World No.1 and a multiple Grand Slam champion and also battling through demons with her serve in particular to come out the other side as one of the best which is underlined by her former coach describing her as a young talent.
“No, parents did not show up for training. From what I know, her dad had some legal issues. Aryna was alone in all this. I have the impression that this was also her internal motivation, pushing her forward,” said Domka to Sport.pl.
“She wanted to stand out at all costs. It could be read that dad had problems and she wanted to help and start earning money.”
“There was a lot of anger in her. She converted all her negative energy into strokes. Plus the incredible intensity in training that I have already mentioned. Her power to hit the ball was gigantic, full power in every play. And so she was able to train from Monday to Saturday.”
Interesting interview with Maciej Domka (former player & coach) talking about his work with Sabalenka during her teenage years in Belarus:
– She was the hardest worker there, trained Mon-Sat then would do 3 hours running on Sunday or cross country skiinghttps://t.co/Bj9oqQaGyI
— Melanie Lautrup (@melanie_lautrup) February 14, 2024