© Getty Images Sport – Kelly Defina
Aryna Sabalenka admits she is “still shocked” over managing to defend her Australian Open title and jokes that speaking with Novak Djokovic may be the key to her success.
After accomplishing her dream of becoming a Grand Slam champion at the 2023 Australian Open, 25-year-old Sabalenka returned to Melbourne Park this year as the defending champion and left Australia with her second Grand Slam title. Not only that Sabalenka managed to win back-to-back Australian Open titles, but she also did it without losing a single set during two weeks at Melbourne Park.
“I’m still shocked I was able to win back-to-back Australian Open. It’s a dream. Yeah, I couldn’t even dream about that, so…” Sabalenka admitted during her pre-tournament press conference in Dubai.
In 2022 December, Sabalenka and Djokovic represented the same team at the World Tennis League in Abu Dhabi. A month later, Sabalenka ended up winning her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. When asked if she spoke with Djokovic about her back-to-back Australian Open wins and potentially emulating the Serb’s 10 Australian Open wins, Sabalenka cracked a joke before revealing they didn’t speak about that topic.
“I guess I need to speak more often to Novak maybe. Maybe…
