‘Struggles pave the path towards greatness,’ No one embodies this better than Aryna Sabalenka. The current WTA number 1 has relentlessly pursued her path toward greatness since 2023. How? By defending back-to-back Australian Open on the trot. A monumental feat indeed! Amid this, who would have foreseen whispers of the Belarusian’s early retirement? Well, certainly not the lady herself. Yet, just before the AO, she shook the tennis world with a stunning mic-drop revelation, while setting the record straight, leaving her fans speechless! 

Life on the center court has peaked for the Belarusian in the last two seasons. At least, winning three Grand Slams in two years is no joke! Is it? And certainly, she got her crown as ‘Queen’ of tennis on 9th December last year, when she clinched the WTA Player of the Year award for 2024. In addition, Sabalenka started her 2025 from where she left last season, by winning the Brisbane International. And as she had her car ride to her fortress, the famous Rod Laver Arena, to start her title defense, but she was struck with a realization that she was not fond of till now.

Speaking to the moderator while driving to the Arena, the Belarusian had her heart in her mouth while remembering that she had a match against Mirra Andreeva at the SF of Brisbane Open, 9 years younger than her. “Oh my god, I’m 27 this year. I played an exhibition with Mirra Andreeva and I’m nine years older than her,” she added. That was not it! She also brought up another subject, which surely no one wanted to discuss! At least not at her peak! Retirement. 

“Being a professional athlete, I’m kind of getting really close to my retirement, can you believe that? 27. People retire at like 30. I don’t know. It’s a tough question,” she added when discussing her retirement plan. Along with that, she also added her desire to hit a pause, have kids, and then come back again at the tour!

“I hope I’ll have family; I’ll have kids. I want to have kids. I don’t want to have my first kid at 35, you know. The way I see it I really want to have a kid and then come back and I want my kid to see how hard you should work in life to get things. So, yeah, I don’t know,” she added. However, is this the first time that she desires to have children? Not at all!

In February 2024, the Belarusian held a Q&A session on her Instagram while she answered different questions. Although the majority of the questions were about tennis, one of the fans decided to ask about her personal life. “Do you wanna have kids?” one of the fans quoted. And her reply was absolutely in favor! “Yes, I do. Maybe in five years, or 10, or maybe in three. I’ll let the universe decide this,” she replied. 

As the AO kicked off, Sabalenka’s fans will be anticipating her to defend the title yet again. However, she did not disappoint as the Belarusian commenced the AO with a thumping win.

Aryna Sabalenka kick starts her campaign at Melbourne Park with a straight-set win

Easy as it seems! The title defense for Aryna Sabalenka started as the Belarusian met Sloane Stephens at the Rod Laver Arena in the first round. It was quite a tricky draw for Aryna as Sloane had prior experience with the hard court glory having won the US Open in 2017 against Madison Keys. However, the American could not hold herself before the reigning champion, as Sabalenka thrashed Sloane 6-3, 6-2. Just after the match, the Belarusian herself appreciated the tricky draw that she faced at the start of the AO.

“I love this place and thank you so much for coming. Wow! Full stadium, I mean I couldn’t dream for more. Thank you so much for coming, supporting us. I really enjoyed playing in front of you every time,” Sabalenka stated, thanking the crowd in the arena.

However, she also added her views about her opponent. “Well yeah, it was a tough match. Always tough matches against her and I’m not like I played my best probably but I’m glad I’m able to close the match in straight sets,” she added in the post-match interview. When asked about her 8th appearance at the Rod Laver Arena, she made a remark that the Melbourn crowd loved. “Always feels like home,” she replied before adding her TikTok dance moves to entertain the crowd a bit.

With that win, Sabalenka has inched one step closer to winning her third consecutive AO title on the trot, a feat that was achieved only by Martina Hingis (1997-99). However, to add her name to that prestigious list, the Belarusian still has a long way to go. She will first need to beat the 22-year-old Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the second-round match.