“I’m addicted to wins” – Australian Open champ Sabalenka focussing on the next one

World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka says she is addicted to the feeling of winning and has no plans to step after winning her second Grand Slam singles title last month.

The Belarusian defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng to successfully defend her Australian Open crown but is not resting on her laurels. Instead, she is ready to put that in the past and focus on the next tournament.

That next tournament is this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where Sabalenka will play her second round on Tuesday after receiving a bye in the first. She goes up against Donna Vekic, who has beaten Sabalenka in five of their seven career meetings.

“My mindset is to keep doing what I’m doing, keep fighting, keep working. After my career, to look back and think, ‘Whoa, I was able to achieve that. That’s crazy’’” Sabalenka told the media in Dubai on Sunday.

“I’m not the type of person who is going to win something and stop. Like I said, I’m addicted to wins. I felt like it’s just something in my blood and I keep doing, keep working, and hopefully keep winning. It’s been an amazing time (since the Australian Open win). I was super excited. We celebrated my win – our win. We had so much fun. I’m still emotional about that. I think it’s the best thing you can ever, ever get. But, as I say, it’s already in the past and I need to focus on the next one.”

I just decided to kind of take the responsibility on myself and not wait for somebody to help you fix something.

Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka, who has now reached the semi-finals of six consecutive Majors, also spoke about how working with a psychologist and taking responsibility for herself has helped her become more confident about herself and her game.

“I guess I was always searching for something which can help me to control myself better,” she said. “After some years working with a psychologist, I just decided to kind of take the responsibility on myself, just to start to take the responsibility and not wait for somebody to help you fix something. At the end the only one thing helping me is just myself, just stop expecting people to fix my problems, start fixing my problems by myself. I think that’s brought much more confidence and much more control.”

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