In her eleven years as a professional tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka has argued with line judges, yelled at coaches, mocked opponents, and smashed countless rackets to smithereens. Along the way, she’s won four Grand Slam titles and currently stands as the top-ranked female tennis player in the world. The twenty-seven-year-old is the most explosive and thrilling tennis player right now, male or female.
But when my interview with Sabalenka was over, and I went for a handshake, she said in her Belarusan accent, “No, I would like to give you a hug.” Then the most dominant and ferocious tennis player in the world wrapped her arms around me.
Who was this person, the one gently rubbing my back?
That’s the confounding thing about her: When she’s not crushing opponents, Sabalenka is trying her damnedest to mellow out. She has owned up to her mistakes, apologized, shown contrition—but never at the expense of her game. The best female tennis player in the world is learning to channel her intensity into her game and peace into everything else. “I’m always going to be me,” she says. “But there is a line where you become a terrible person that you cannot cross.” This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
ESQ: What’s the secret to smashing a racket?
AS: You hit it as hard as possible. Let all of that tension and emotion go out through the racket. Then let it go when the racket is broken. I’m so sorry to Wilson. In that particular moment, they probably don’t really like me.
ESQ: I saw a video of you spraying Champagne after winning the U.S. Open. What does it feel like to be soaked in Champagne?
AS: Terrible. You smell so bad, like I haven’t been showering for, I don’t know, ten days or something. But when you think about why it happened, it makes you feel good.
This article appeared in the Sept 2025 issue of Esquire
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ESQ: I’ve spent time with top-level tennis players, and I’ve seen them avoid rich foods and alcohol, but you seem like a person who knows how to celebrate after a win or after a big tournament. How do you balance being a pro athlete at the top of their game while also enjoying life?
AS: When I’m in the preseason or during a tournament, I’m not drinking at all. But I have my moments, like when it’s a big win of course I party and drink. It’s important to balance it. To cut everything out from your life is not healthy. At some point you can lose it and go crazy in different directions.
ESQ: You are an aggressive player, but seeing you off the court, it’s like two different people. How do you balance those two sides of your life?
AS: Until the end of my life, I’ll have to do something where I’m that aggressive—maybe boxing—because I feel like I’m balancing these two personalities really well. On the court, I’m quite aggressive, quite emotional, which I need to be to pull out my best tennis. Off the court, I’m a completely different person.
ESQ: If you weren’t a tennis player, what would you be doing?
AS: Boxing or maybe modeling. Maybe model size plus. I would be good.
ESQ: You’ve said that, growing up in Belarus, few people believed in you. They thought you were “stupid” and had no chance. What did you—
AS: That’s what you have to deal with! They would never come to you and say, “Don’t you think you need to work on that to become better?” No, they just talk behind your back. They destroy your belief, but at the same time, I’m happy it happened, because I had something pushing me to prove that they’re wrong.
ESQ: Your dad introduced you to tennis when you were six. What’s the most important lesson he taught you?
AS: To stay strong no matter what, to be positive no matter what, to have fun in life no matter what. He didn’t realize he was being a good example, because he was also facing a lot of ups and downs. He was always fighting, and that’s why I have a really strong fighting spirit on the court.
ESQ: So you hit the ball real hard.
AS: Yeah, since I was a kid.
ESQ: I read somewhere your serve can exceed 120 miles per hour.
AS: Maybe the fastest one, but average is a bit lower than that, maybe.
ESQ: We’ll go with above 120 miles an hour. We don’t need to fact-check that, right?
AS: Let’s do that.
ESQ: As you’re tossing the ball up in the air, what are you thinking about as that’s happening?
AS: You have a plan where you’re just trying to make your motion as smooth as possible, because you’re trying to be relaxed. When you’re relaxed, you can pull out a really great serve and a heavy serve. When you’re trying to overhit it, then it doesn’t help—it just creates this tension and then the ball flies way slower.
ESQ: I was wondering if you’d say, “I’m not really thinking about anything.” Does your mind clear at any point, or is a lot happening in that brief moment when you serve?
AS: You know the target. You’re going through a few key points that help you to serve. I mean, I faced that moment when there was a lot going on in my head while I would toss the ball and I couldn’t serve at all. That period was really tough. Nowadays, with that experience, I’m just trying to think about the target and the few key points that help me serve.
ESQ: You mentioned that moment in 2022 when you really struggled to get your serves in play. That feels like a nightmare scenario for—
AS: It is a nightmare!
ESQ: Yes, for anybody.
AS: I would never wish it to my enemy. It was tough because imagine you’re doing something for your whole life, and you’re really trying to be great, and you love the sport, and then at some point, just like that, you cannot serve. And then you struggle, you struggle, and you get to the point of just giving up. Mentally, that’s tough. That was a tough period, but it made me so strong, like never before. Nowadays, I’m confident that even if my serve is not going well, I can still fight and still try to win the match without my serve. That was tough, but at the same time, like a very good moment and a very good lesson for me.
ESQ: What scares you now?
AS: Losing someone close.
ESQ: Your father died suddenly in 2019. How do you deal with grief?
AS: Going through loss, it’s important to do your work, keep yourself distracted. At the same time, it’s important to grieve, to cry, to go through the emotions. Never hold it inside, because it’ll destroy you from the inside. I was letting it go, but I was able to go on the court and practice.
ESQ: It sounds like tennis saved you.
AS: If not for tennis, I don’t know where I would be right now.
ESQ: Are you religious?
AS: I’m religious. It’s not like every Sunday in church, but I do believe in God and I believe in energy. When my dad passed away, I started to go to church more often.
MS: You have been in a relationship with Georgios Frangulis, a Brazilian businessman, for a couple of years. What have you learned from it?
AS: You see that each area of life takes the same dedication, discipline, and hard work. [In March, Frangulis and Sabalenka were engaged to be married.]
ESQ: What bores you?
AS: Boring people, which I don’t have around me. Preseason is quite boring and tough. It’s the same every day, and it’s hard work, and you’re super tired and you cannot have fun.
ESQ: After you lost the 2025 French Open to Coco Gauff, you made comments that downplayed her ability. [“She won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all those mistakes.”] It set off a controversy. Later, you recorded a dance video for social media with Coco. What did that experience teach you?
AS: That was very tough. I have to take my time after the match before I go to the press conference when I lose the match, because when you do it straightaway, you’re still that emotional person. In that press conference, I didn’t know what I was talking about. Then I went through the stats, talked to my team, and I got to a different conclusion and different opinion. I messaged Coco saying like, “Listen, I’m so sorry.”
ESQ: I understand there’s this book, Into the Magic Shop, by James R. Doty, that really helped you. What did you learn from this book? How did it help you think differently?
AS: I read that book after the French Open because I knew there was something going on with me that I have no control. Maybe not so smart for me to say, but I didn’t really know what this book was about. And I was reading and I was like, It’s a perfect moment for me to read this book. I learned some different breathing exercises to calm myself down, how to control your thoughts. It was really helpful in that moment because I was all over the place, and that book really helped me in the future after I lost in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. I took my time, I took some deep breath. I tried to completely clear my head so I could be a better person in a press conference after that loss.
ESQ: Do you have any regrets?
AS: I have a lot of regrets. I think we all do. Mistakes make us better people. It’s tough to be the person without regrets and mistakes. You better stay away from those people.
Opening image: Sweater (worn as top) by Loewe; watch by Audemars Piguet.
On the cover: Coat and pumps by Gucci; watch by Audemars Piguet.
Photographed by Emily Soto @emilysoto
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