Aryna Sabalenka revealed her coach Anton Dubrov wanted to leave in 2022 but she didn’t want that to happen since she felt that it wasn’t his fault that she wasn’t doing very well with her results.
On Saturday, 24-year-old Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the Australian Open final.
Moments after becoming a Grand Slam champion, an emotional Sabalenka went to give a big hug to Dubrov and the rest of her team.
“There was a moment last year when he said ‘I think I’m done, I can’t give you anything else.’ & I was like ‘No, it’s not you, we just have to work through these tough moments & we’ll come back stronger,'” Sabalenka said on Nine’s Wide World of Sports, per Gaspar Ribeiro Lanca.
Sabalenka on 9WWOS after seeing her coach in tears: “There was a moment last year when he said ‘I think I’m done, I can’t give you anything else.’ & I was like ‘No, it’s not you, we just have to work through these tough moments & we’ll come back stronger.” pic.twitter.com/GKykltXOWz
— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) January 28, 2023
Sabalenka didn’t want to let Dubrov go
Sabalenka was struggling with her game at the start of the 2022 season, especially with her serve.
In February, Dubrov very honestly and directly told Sabalenka that he might not be the right coach for her.
But Sabalenka refused to split with Dubrov as she believed he was the right coach for her.
“I don’t remember exactly, but I think after Dubai, before Doha, after Dubai happened. He just said like, ‘I don’t know what to do. I think you need to find someone else who’s going to help you’. But I was like I knew that it’s not about him. It’s just something about me. I just have to figure out the problem. Like, we have to get through it. I’m really happy that we keep working together. We went through so many things together. I think it’s even sweeter that we get it together as a team. It was a long journey for us. We are here with the Grand Slam title, which is really amazing,” Sabalenka said in the press conference, per Sportskeeda.
On Monday, Sabalenka will rose to No 2 in the world.
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