 "'Tiger' Aryna Sabalenka rises above personal tragedies to emerge as hardcourt queen")
On the inside of her left arm, Aryna Sabalenka has a prominent tattoo of a tiger to mark the year of her birth, 1998, which was also the Year of the Tiger as per the Chinese zodiac system.
She’s had the tattoo since she was 18, although her parents were not immediately pleased with the decision to get inked.
“My parents didn’t know, and when they saw it the first time my dad was laughing. I don’t know why but my mom didn’t talk to me for one week,” she said.
“It’s special as sometimes I need to remind myself that I am the tigress and I need to fight till the end. I just put it on my arm to make sure I can see it every time and be on fire.”
Her parents may not have been immediately drawn to the tattoo but that didn’t change their approach towards their daughter - especially that of her father Sergiy - who had introduced her to tennis when she was six years old.
Not a single skip on the tracklist. pic.twitter.com/RAXSA7YICp
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2024
The journey began on empty courts of Minsk in Belarus where the father-daughter duo would hit balls.
That journey progressed to three Grand Slam titles for the 26-year-old and the moniker of being the ‘hardcourt queen’. In the US Open final, Sabalenka triumphed 7-5, 7-5 over local favourite Jessica Pegula .
The World No. 2 had also won the Australian Open earlier in the year without dropping a set. In New York, she did drop one, to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round, but made a powerful comeback and didn’t drop another set in the next four matches.
With the win, Sabalenka became the first woman since Angelique Kerber, in 2016, to sweep the hard-court Slams in a single season. She joined an elite list of Steffi Graf (1988,89), Monica Seles (1991,92), Martina Hingis (1997) and Kerber (2016).
She also became the fourth player in the past decade to win multiple Slams in a single season, joining Serena Williams (2015), Kerber (2016), and Swiatek (2022).
ARYNA SABALENKA REIGNS SUPREME IN NEW YORK! pic.twitter.com/rVEGvuBMe4
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2024
Her triumphs at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens and US Open now come in the backdrop of personal tragedies. Instead of being bogged down by them, Sabalenka has shown immense personal strength to rise above.
This year’s US Open was her first major since the death of her ex-boyfriend in March .
Ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, once a star of the NHL, died from apparent suicide at the age of 42.
Sabalenka described the death as an “unthinkable tragedy.”
“While we were no longer together, my heart is broken,” she wrote on a social media post .
Then in 2019, Sabalenka’s father Sergiy passed away from meningitis at just 43.
“I’m just trying to fight because my dad wanted me to be number one,” she said at the time. “I’m doing it for him.”
She went on to honour her father’s memory by becoming World No. 1 last year, in a season where she claimed her maiden Slam, finished runner-up in New York and made the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon.
On Saturday, she dedicated her first US Open title to her family who “never gave up on my dream”.
“After I lost my father, it has always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis,” said the 26-year-old.
“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 and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going.
“I had this opportunity in life so it really means a lot. It has always been my dream.”
Topsy turvy final
In the final on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sabalenka summoned her familiar weapons - a big serve and brutal groundstrokes to get the better of in-form Pegula.
In the first set, Sabalenka let a 5-2 lead slip to be taken deep and required five set points to surge ahead.
The second followed a similar script with the Belarusian romping to a 3-0 lead only to lose five games in a row. It was then Sabalenka’s turn to stage a comeback a stack up four games in a row and with that the match and the Championship.
Her 40 winners took her tournament total to 205 with 36 aces. She boasted the third fastest serve of the competition at 191.5 km/h (119 mph).
476 - Aryna Sabalenka has now become the player with the most winners made in Women’s Singles Grand Slam events in 2024 (476, surpassing Jasmine Paolini with 475). Style.#USOpen | @usopen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/tUeoKNNykQ
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 7, 2024
“I know that I have to go for it. That’s the only way it works for me,” said Sabalenka.
“Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands, so a long time ago I decided for myself in those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing.”
After the match, Sabalenka recreated the habit of inking the bald head of her fitness Jason Stacy. Instead of the usual signing it for good luck, she went one step further and had a tiger tattoo drawn on his head instead.
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