Aryna Sabalenka has reached Melbourne ahead of the 2024 Australian Open scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 14.
She will enter the tournament as the defending champion, having staged a comeback win over Elena Rybakina in the final at Rod Laver Arena to win her first Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka suffered an early setback in that match by losing the opening set but recovered quickly to secure the following two sets. The Belarusian hit a total of 17 aces and won 110 points to clinch a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, and became the first player to win a Major while playing under a neutral flag.
Sabalenka recently took to Instagram to share a photograph in which she is seen blowing a kiss to an image of herself holding the Australian Open trophy on the wall.
The World No. 2 later hopped on a viral TikTok trend and danced to the tunes of popular music artist Pitbull's hit single, 'Fireball.' She was joined by her team members, including coach Anton Dubrov and performance coach Jason Stacey.
The video of the same can be watched below.
Aryna Sabalenka: "I accept the fact that I can lose"
Aryna Sabalenka's 2024 season began with a run to the Brisbane International final, where she lost in straight sets to Elena Rybakina on Sunday, January 7.
Prior to the Brisbane event, the 25-year-old told the media about her mindset ahead of the 2024 Australian Open despite being the defending champion.
"Worst case, what happens? I'm going to lose a Grand Slam, lose some points, drop a little bit in the ranking. There's so many tournaments ahead. I'm going to try to do my best to be in another Grand Slam or in other tournaments," she said.
Sabalenka further stated that she worked on her thoughts in 2023 and learned to let go of the disappointing results. She said:
"That's why I like my mindset, you can beat me. But I'm going to prepare every match and have huge chances to win the match after match, probably to hold the trophy."
"I did a big change, like, in my mindset last year. I kind of, like, accept the fact that I can lose, that everyone can go there and beat me if I'm not bringing my best tennis," Sabalenka added.