Sabalenka thought about retiring: "When I kept making double faults, I thought it was time to give up".
Tomorrow, Aryna Sabalenka will find out her route to the 2025 Australian Open, where she will be aiming for a third consecutive title, a feat not achieved by Martina Hingis since her treble between 1997 and 1999.
On the cover of the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar magazine, the world No.1 went back over the period when she was close to giving up tennis, due to her repeated double faults (428 in the 2022 season, 21 in a single match in Adelaide, for example).
Sabalenka: "I remember a moment when I had to show resilience and almost said 'OK, I'll stop'.
It was two or three years ago when I was making double faults all the time. Everything seemed to be going wrong.
I said to myself 'Well, it's time for me to give up... it's time to retire'.
But then I realized that I have a lot of love for this sport, that there are a lot of things behind the scenes that I just couldn't give up.
I had to stay strong and try one more time, try something else to solve my problem. I think that was the turning point in my career."
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