Nothing came easy for Aryna Sabalenka, which makes her grand success in Melbourne even sweeter By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday January 29, 2023
Last year, Aryna Sabalenka had trouble believing that she was an exceptional athlete. Mired in a crisis of confidence, raining double-faults and low on self-esteem, she struggled to find her way through a season that characterized by chaos – both internal and external – more than victories.
“I always had this weird feeling that when people would come to me and ask for a signature, I would be like, ‘Why are you asking for signature? I'm nobody. I'm a player. I don't have a Grand Slam and all this stuff,’” she explained on Saturday in Melbourne, after defeating Elena Rybakina in a thrilling battle for her maiden major title.
Sabalenka clearly had a lot of work to do to rebuild her confidence, which makes her triumph on Saturday in Melbourne Park all the more remarkable.
How did she do it?
She looked inside herself.
“I just changed how I feel. I started to respect myself more,” she said. “I started to understand that actually I'm here because I work so hard and I'm actually a good player.”
Sabalenka’s remarkable resurrection came from her own inner strength. She made the old cliché her friend: That which does not kill you only makes you stronger.
Wooow guys…what just happened? I have a fear that this was all a dream and l'm about to wake up. It's all still sinking in, but I could not be happier in this moment.
Thank you so much for all the support during this few weeks,I really appreciate it..🫶🫶🫶 pic.twitter.com/vwyxezbLw8— Sabalenka Aryna (@SabalenkaA) January 29, 2023
Once fragile, frenzied and flappable, Sabalenka has transformed herself. She turned around her mind – and her strokes – and has emerged in 2023 as one of the most mentally tough players on tour.
She says she owes it to the pain and frustration she experienced in 2022. It forced her to look hard in the mirror and learn how to believe. And that process led to Sabalenka’s crowning achievement, and made it even sweeter.
“I think it's even more enjoyable, I would say, after all those tough matches,” she told reporters after the final. “I really feel right now that I really needed those tough losses to kind of understand myself a little bit better. It was like a preparation for me.
“I actually feel happy that I lost those matches, so right now I can be a different player and a…
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