When it was time to vote for the Coach of the Year award in 2023, Aryna Sabalenka thought Anton Dubrov was the ‘obvious’ choice. The two had been working together since 2020, with Sabalenka already the proud winner of three titles that year. The Belarusian became the World No. 1 as well in 2021. The next year was a rollercoaster but by 2023, Sabalenka had her first Grand Slam trophy in Melbourne. However, did Dubrov’s association with Sabalenka start with coaching or much before that?

Dubrov didn’t end up winning the Coach of The Year award last year; rather Tomasz Wiktorowski from Iga Swiatek‘s team did. But Dubrov’s importance hadn’t dimmed in Sabalenka’s eyes. “He knows me quite well, he knows what I need, what we have to work on,” she said of her primary coach in 2021. After all, Dubrov had been working with Sabalenka as her hitting partner for a few years by then. In fact, he has reportedly known her for more than a decade.

‘Hitting partner’ is essentially a step down from the coaching level, as Sabalenka’s current one, Andrei Vasilevski, might tell you. But the Belarusian player clearly saw potential in that relationship with Dubrov and made it official. Dubrov, also Belarusian, was an active player till 2018 but replaced Dmitry Tursunov on Sabalenka’s team by 2020. While they worked together to make Sabalenka reach the top, it was not to say that they didn’t have any disagreements.

Last year, when Sabalenka was struggling with her service, she and Dubrov couldn’t come to an agreement on how best to solve the issue. Per the WTA, the coach offered to resign, “I think I’m done. I can’t give you anything else.” But Saba was adamant because this partnership was more than working well otherwise, “No. It’s not you. It’s just something about me. I have to figure out the problem. We just have to work through these tough moments — and we’ll come back stronger.” And she did. While it was not an overnight fix, the duo worked together to find a solution to get Sabalenka’s serves higher than the net.

Dubrov has since then supported his mentee through emotional turmoil – whether due to work conditions, such as the Cancun fiasco at the WTA finals last year, or the personal tragedy the WTA player went through earlier this year. His aim was the same throughout – keep Saba’s focus on tennis, and help her dominate.

Anton Dubrov on how the game of tennis could become a ‘cure’ for Aryna Sabalenka

A few days before the Miami Open, Aryna Sabalenka lost someone close to her – boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov. Or ex-boyfriend, as her post later stated, “Konstantin’s death is an unthinkable tragedy, and while we were no longer together, my heart is broken.”

It was an unimaginable blow soon after a victory high – Sabalenka had become the only player to defend her Australian Open crown since Victoria Azarenka in 2013-14. She had done it for her dad, another person she lost too soon. But the 26-year-old continued to play, finding an outlet on the court to release her emotions. Dubrov agreed with this method, “It’s not easy because a tragic event happened in her life. Of course, it’s hard to separate it from tennis, but at the same time the idea was to try to sideline it and focus on the game, which can become a cure.”

“When you go out on the court and know what to do, even if you’re upset, angry, it can give you a feeling of healing. The opportunity to be on the court is a kind of medicine. Whatever happens in life, the main thing is to continue to do simple things, to live on. She hasn’t 100% recovered yet, but she’s already better,” Dubrov further added.

Fast forward to mid-August, and Aryna Sabalenka is getting ready to face World No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the Cincinnati Open. While injuries have marred her campaign this season, be it physical or emotional turmoil, she can find solace in the fact that she has a level-headed, high quality coach by her side.