The world number one continues to remain in her seat: Who is Aryna Sabalenka?

Arina Syarheyeuna Sabalenka was born on May 5, 1988 in Belarus. Her father, Sergey, was a hockey player who introduced her to tennis. She started her training at the National Tennis Academy in Minsk in 2014. In 2015, the Belarusian Tennis Federation encouraged her to focus on lower-level professional events instead of junior tournaments.

Belarusian professional tennis player Sabalenka is ranked No. 2 in singles and No. 1 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association. Sabalenka won one major singles title at the 2023 Australian Open and two major doubles titles at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open.

Sabalenka rose to prominence in 2017 by leading the Belarusian Fed Cup team to second place and has since found success on the WTA Tour, winning a total of 18 career titles. Sabalenka has a strong and aggressive playing style, characterized by a high number of winners and unforced errors and a strong serve. Sabalenka prefers to play on grass and hard courts.

Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles and has also been world No. 1 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Sabalenka has won one Major singles title, at the 2023 Australian Open, and two Major doubles titles, at the 2019 US Open and the 2021 Australian Open, both partnering Elise Mertens. She has won 19 career titles in total, 13 in singles and six in doubles.

The Belarusian racquet, born in 1998, who won the first Grand Slam singles title of her career by becoming the champion at the Australian Open, also managed to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the French Open. Sabalenka, who reached the final of the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, continues to remain in the world number one position.

In her statement to Cancun Press, the 25-year-old world number one touched upon the experiences she gained and the lessons she learned throughout this season.

"I learned a lot of lessons this season. I lost a lot of tough matches. I also won a lot of tough matches. I managed to become the world number one (It probably won't last long...)."

Sabalenka, who took the world's number one seat from Iga Swiatek, who was alone at the top for a long time, stated that this was not her main goal.

"It's not all about rankings. I feel like these tough matches are something you need to learn sometimes. I can say I'm heading in the right direction."