Before this year’s US Open, Sabalenka said she was trying to find “things which bring joy” after a tough year.
In March, her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov died in what Sabalenka called “an unthinkable tragedy”.
She later said, with hindsight, she should have taken a break from playing. Sabalenka went on to struggle with a stomach problem in her French Open quarter-final defeat in June, before withdrawing from Wimbledon a few weeks later with a shoulder injury.
The injury-enforced break allowed her to refresh and, in New York, she has shown a fun and relaxed approach with her team off the court.
When she successfully defended her Australian Open title in January, she made it a tradition to write her signature on her fitness trainer Jason Stacy’s head.
Instead of her signature, Stacy stuck Sabalenka’s iconic tiger tattoo on the top of his head for the final against Pegula.
The second seed was seen poking fun at Stacy’s head in her celebrations, while she joked during her post-match news conference that he should have placed the image in the middle of his forehead.
“She is living her best life,” former British number one Laura Robson told Sky Sports.
“You just have to look at the environment she has around her. She has her physio tattooing a lion on his head and you see them all laughing and joking.
“It translates into her game on the court because everything is going to plan off the court.”
Behind her cheerful approach, however, is a bigger motivation for Sabalenka to keep pursuing Grand Slam success.
She has spoken about the impact of losing her father, Sergey, who died in 2019, and says it is her goal to “put our family name in the history of tennis”.
“Every time I see my name on that trophy, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream,” she said.
“They were doing everything they could to keep me going.”
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