How Aryna Sabalenka transformed her image by allowing tennis fans to step into her world
Aryna Sabalenka described herself as “an open book” when responding to a question from Tennis365 at the Wuhan Open last month and she has lived up to that billing over the last few weeks.
It took the tennis world some time to warm to a player who screams every time she strikes a ball ensuring she stood out from the crowd… but not always for the right reasons.
First impressions count and looking at an agitated and often angry Sabalenka battling with herself on court meant she was struggled to attract supporters in her formative days on the WTA Tour.
Yet all that changed when she started to embrace social media platforms at a level few in the game can match, with her eagerness to allow the world to see behind the curtains in her world, changing the perception many had of this engaging superstar.
Her rise up the WTA Rankings was halted by serving yips that threatened to derail her career, but the fightback from that problem and her success in winning four Grand Slam titles over the last couple of years has ensured the noise she makes on court now is drowned out by her success.
Tennis fans have also been allowed to get to know Sabalenka thanks to her regular appearances on TikTok and Instagram, where the fun side of her personality shines.
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Agents and sponsors are constantly urging the players they are associated with to post regular social media updates on their lives, but it seems Sabalenka does not need that encouragement as she has great fun making videos of her dancing with fellow players and he friends and sharing photos of her time on holiday with boyfriend, Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis.
Social media can be a platform that attracts unwanted attention, especially for female stars, so her decision to be so open about her life despite that threat was admirable and it has paid off.
Sabalenka has over five million followers across Instagram and TikTok and she he enjoying the chance to share her story with her army of fans around the world.
“I feel like I’m like an open book right now,” she told Tennis365 in Wuhan. “Sometimes they ask me, what is something that people will be surprised to know about you? And I’m like, they know everything, like literally everything about me!
“I show everything. And, the main reason was that, you know, I look really aggressive on court, and I cannot look at myself, watch myself playing. I feel terrible about myself because I’m super aggressive.
“I felt like and I wanted to be connected with people. I wanted to feel support in the stadiums. I wanted to experience that support, so I felt like I need to share myself.
“I need to show people who, who Aryna is and everything came from there, and that’s why I started to share myself to just to make sure that I can stay connected with people.”
Sabalenka has not let herons down in recent days as she has been loading her Instagram page with images of her holiday in the Maldives and while now is the time to relax, the world No 1 will soon turn her attention to the 2026 season and what she hopes will be the pursuit of more Grand Slam titles.
