Aryna Sabalenka is a professional tennis player from Belarus. She has been ranked as high as world No 1 in singles and world No 1 in doubles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Aryna Sabalenka has won two Grand Slam doubles titles, the 2019 US Open, and the 2021 Australian Open, alongside Elise Mertens. She has won 16 career titles in total, ten in singles and six in doubles.
Aryna Sabalenka was born on May 5, 1998, in Minsk, Belarus. She began training at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk when it opened in 2014. As a junior, she won the Baltic Wind cup, Toyota Cup U16, Alatan Tour Cup, J4 Vierumaki \ Vierumaki Dunlop and etc.
Aryna Sabalenka made her professional debut in 2014 at the $10,000 Minsk (Belarus), losing in the first round. Later the same season she played at $25,000 W25 Minsk (Belarus), again losing the first round and the $10,000 Istanbul (Turkey), reaching the second round.
In 2015, The Belarusian tennis babe moved to play mostly on the ITF tour under the pressure of the local federation She won her first trophy at the $10,000 Antalya (Turkey) and by the end of the year captured two more trophies, most valuable being $25,000 W25 Pune (India).
Aryna Sabalenka continue with her perfect performance in 2016, being the runner-up at the $25,000 Perth (Australia) and winning $50,000 Tianjin (China). She reached the semi-finals of the $100,000 Saint-Petersburg (Russia) and at the end of the season won the trophy at the $60,000+H Toyota (Japan).
In 2017, Aryna Sabalenka rose to prominence by leading the Belarus Fed Cup team to a runner-up finish with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, despite both of them being ranked outside the top 75 at the time. Meanwhile, during the season, she debuted in the WTA Tour, playing at the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, but losing in the first round. During the season, however, she made a breakthrough at the WTA 250 Tashkent Open, reaching the semi-finals, and WTA 250 Tianjin Open being the runner-up. At the very end of the year, she won the title at the WTA 125 L&T Mumbai Open. This shot her ranking into the WTA Top 100 for the first time.
Aryna Sabalenka used this momentum and in 2018 made her real breakthrough, playing in the WTA Tour and debuting at the Grand Slam. She was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Lugano Open and WTA 500 Rothesay International Eastbourne, reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and won the titles at the WTA 500 Connecticut Open and WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open. Aryna Sabalenka had a fantastic season also reaching the fourth round of the US Open. This put her in the world’s Top 20 and she ended the season as the world’s No 13.
Aryna Sabalenka started the 2019 season with confidence and won the title of the WTA 250 Shenzhen Open. In May, she reached the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Internationaux de Strasbourg and in July was the runner-up at the WTA 500 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose. Aryna Sabalenka defended her title at the WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and the WTA Year End Championships in Zhuhai, China. During the season she entered for the first time within the Top 10, but in the end fell to the world’s No 11.
In 2020, Aryna Sabalenka was considered among the world’s top female tennis players. She won the titles at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open, WTA 500 AGEL Open in Ostrava, and WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz, ending at the world’s No 10.
Aryna Sabalenka started the season 2021 with a trophy at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open. At the Australian Open, she reached the fourth round and was the runner-up at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. She won the title at the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open and reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon and the US Open. At the end of the season, she was again invited to play at the WTA Year-End Championships in Guadalajara.
In 2022, Aryna Sabalenka targeted winning the Grand Slam tournament but had bad luck reaching the semi-finals of the US Open and only the fourth round of the Australian Open. She was the runner-up at the WTA Year-End Championships in Fort Worth.
In 2023, however, she succeeded to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. She also won the WTA 500 Adelaide International and WTA 1000 Madrid Open. Aryna Sabalenka played on the finals of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open and WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Miami Open and WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. She climbed to the world’s No 2 and definitely this is one of her best seasons. In May, Aryna Sabalenka won the title at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open and played in the semi-finals of the French Open / Roland Garros, while in the summer, reached the semi-finals of the Wimbledon and WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open, before playing the final of the US Open. At the end of the season she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 China Open and the semi-finals of the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico. Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka climbed to the world’s number in the WTA ranking on September 10, 2023 and kept her position until the end of the season.