Laser-focused Aryna Sabalenka didn’t drop a set on her way to a second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Saturday—but there was a time when her champion mentality used to let her down at the crucial moments.
After the defending champ routed No. 12 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final, Sabalenka let out all her emotions in a joyful post-match celebration with her team. Her clinical performances are a testament to how much they’ve worked on the mercurial Belarusian’s mental and tactical game in the last two years—and after the final, she credited her turnaround on “experience” and growing emotional maturity.
“There is not going to be big wins without really tough losses. Of course I was very down after those matches. I was crying, I was smashing the racquet, as we see. I was really crazy,” she otherwise bubbly Sabalenka recalled in her post-match press conference.
“Later on after a day or two, we sit down with the team, thinking, okay, what we have to do to fix it and to make sure this will never happen again.”