Aryna Sabalenka makes ‘screaming’ confession in fun match with Novak Djokovic

Kevin Palmer
Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka having fun in Melbourne
Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka has often been criticised for her loud ‘screaming’ when she hits a tennis ball and the defending Australian Open was worried about her habit during a fun match with Novak Djokovic on Melbourne.

In an event that raised money for charity ahead of the start of the first Grand Slam of the year on Rod Laver Arena, last year’s Australian Open singles champions teamed up for a very relaxed mixed doubles match against Greek stars Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari.

The most significant news emerging from the event was the clear discomfort Tsitsipas was in both during his singles set against Djokovic and in the doubles encounter.

That may spark fears he will not be able to compete in the Australian Open, which gets underway on Sunday, but the signs were good for Djokovic as he cruised to a comfortable win in his set against Tsistsipas.

The dynamic between Djokovic and Sabalenka made for good viewing, with the Belarussian star clearly nervous about playing alongside the 24-time Grand Slam king.

And she also made some telling confessions about her most audible trait, as she suggested her screaming may be an issue.

Sabalenka has often been criticised for shouting as she strikes a ball, with the volume levels often rising as she moves through the gears in a match.

She was wearing a microphone throughout the exhibition match with Djokovic and before starting, asked organisers to turn down her microphone when the action started because “my screaming is so loud”.

The tennis was very light-hearted between the four players, but Sabalenka was clearly holding back from her familiar grunts and suggested at one point: “I can’t play when I am not screaming”.

Things turned a little nasty when a young Australian tennis player called Novak joined his idol on court and managed to strike a ball firmly at Sakkari, who appeared to take the hit in good spirits.

READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka’s violent screaming should be muted after Novak Djokovic’s punishment

Djokovic tried his hand at wheelchair tennis and highlighted how challenging it is to play that version of the sport, while he also played against some Australian sporting greats, including Test cricketer Steve Smith.

The Serbian fired what appeared to be a reasonably fast serve at the new Australian Test opener and to the amazement of most looking on, including Djokovic, Smith managed to get the ball back in play.

The intensity of the tennis at the event was not enough to test Djokovic’s worst problem that affected him in his match against Alex de Minaur at the United Cup earlier this month, yet John McEnroe warned we will have to wait for the real action to start in Melbourne to gauge whether the defending champion will be impeded.

“We don’t know whether Novak is 100 percent,” said McEnroe in an ESPN conference call.

“Obviously, he’s been injured allegedly the last couple of years and won the event handily so…let’s just say he knows how to manage it so we’ll see. Obviously, he’s won it 10 times. Who would’ve thought that would’ve happened?

“Novak has been injured allegedly the last couple of years and won the event handily. So we’ll see. Obviously he’s won it 10 times. Who would have thought that could have happened. Then again you look at Rafa who won the French 14 times,” he added.

It has been confirmed that Djokovic will play his first match at the Australian Open on Sunday, as the tournament starts a day earlier than usual in a bid to cut down on matches that finish late into the early hours of the morning.

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