Every coin has two sides, it is often said. The case of Aryna Sabalenka is no different. While she is enjoying the best phase of her career and looks unbeatable, Sabalenka has also had to go through some tough moments in her career. Early on in her childhood days, Sabalenka’s father, Sergey introduced the Belarusian star to tennis. The latter was an ice hockey player and took Sabalenka to the National Tennis Academy in Minsk. Sergey wasn’t directly involved in coaching Sabalenka and her first coach was Dmitry Tursunov. While Sabalenka grew in her tennis career, she suffered an unexpected tragedy.

In November 2019, Sabalenka’s father passed away at the age of just 43. He was suffering from meningitis, a serious infection that causes inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. While Sabalenka found it difficult to cope with the loss, she was driven by the promise given to her father that she’d win at least a couple of Grand Slam titles before turning 25. Indeed, Sabalenka fulfilled her father’s promise at last year’s Australian Open, where she defeated Qinwen Zheng in the summit clash to win the trophy.

In the second season of the Netflix series Break Point, Sabalenka talked about winning a Grand Slam title for her father, saying, “I really wanted to win a slam for him, just to put our family name in the history, but there’s so many thoughts going through your mind on that court, like I have to win every point, I have to win this slam. Thinking too much about it.”

Additionally, Sabalenka’s father also wanted his daughter to become the World Number 1 player one day. The Belarusian star also fulfilled that dream as she reached the top of the world in women’s tennis last year. Meanwhile, Sabalenka is bidding to win a hattrick of Australian Open titles. She had a tough start to her third-round encounter but maintained her cool to prevail in the contest.

Aryna Sabalenka just cannot give up

The Belarusian star was up against Clara Tauson in her third-round encounter yesterday. However, she had a poor start to the match and trailed 5-3 in the opening set. Nonetheless, Sabalenka showed why she is WTA Number 1 and fought back to win the set in the tiebreaker.

Talking about her amazing fighting spirit, Sabalenka, during the post-match interview, said, “I just reminded myself about how strong I am, how much I wanted it when I was a kid, even right now. Then I look in the box. I see all of those people sitting there, cheering me up, helping me to achieve my dreams. I cannot just give up because there are so many people in my box who are really doing their best. Also, when I hear the support from the crowd, I’m like, ‘C’mon’. I cannot give up that easily. All of these three helping me to stay motivated and keep fighting no matter what.”

Sabalenka will be seen in action in her fourth-round match tomorrow against Mirra Andreeva. Can she defend her Australian Open title? Let us know your views in the comments below.