Belarusian Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka grew visibly hysterical as she spoke about her late father after successfully defending her US Open 2025 singles title against Amanda Anisimova. Sabalenka admitted to being depressed after her father's demise but revealed that she concentrated entirely on putting her family's name on history following the tragedy.
The 27-year-old's father Sergey, who was an Ice Hockey player, died in 2019. Her father reportedly introduced her to Tennis and Sabalenka is having a meteoric rise in the sport. The final of US Open 2025 saw the Belarusian storm to 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory, thereby avenging the shocking defeat at Wimbledon 2025 semi-final.
Speaking at the post-game presser, Sabalenka opened up about her love for her father and said:
"It means a lot and when he passed away, I was very depressed. It was a tough moment for me and my family. But in that moment, I decided to take it as a motivation to put our family name in the history. I know that he is, I want to believe, I feel his protection from up there. And I know that he became my power. So, it means a lot.
"I'm super proud right now of myself" - Aryna Sabalenka
At the post-game press conference, the Belarusian also claimed that she deserved to win the crown after all the hard work put in and handling the emotions the way she did. As quoted by BBC Sport, she claimed:
"This one felt different. It felt like I had to overcome a lot of things to get it. I knew that [because of] the hard work we put in, I deserved to have a Grand Slam title this season. When I fell [to the court], it was because it means a lot to defend this title and to bring such great tennis. To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot. I'm super proud right now of myself."
It's worth noting that the winner and runners-up were set to take home a staggering amount of $5,000,000 (₹44,08,44,411 approx.) and $2,500,000 (₹22,04,22,205 approx.), respectively.
