Aryna Sabalenka Claims Her Slavic Face Makes People Think She’s a ‘B*tch’

Aryna Sabalenka is gearing up for Wimbledon, where she will be aiming to reach the final for the first time. It’s the only Major where the Belarusian ace has never played in the championship clash.

Ahead of the tournament, Sabalenka sat for an interview with The Guardian, during which she talked about her on- and off-court personalities. While playing, Sabalenka often throws tantrums, yells at her team, and breaks rackets. But this is really not the real Sabalenka, said the World No.1.

She said she’s super friendly, but her face may trick people into thinking otherwise. Even her best friend, former World No.2 Paula Badosa, thought she was a “b*tch,” and vice versa.

When we met, I was, like, ‘Oh, I thought you were a b*tch!’ And she’s, like, ‘I thought you were a b*tch, too.’ I was, like, ‘Well, I guess that’s not true, so we can be friends.’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, we’re actually quite similar.’ I guess it’s just the attitude that we carry on court.

Her Slavic facial features, Sabalenka believes, are the reason why people think she is unfriendly.

When you see me for the first time, you’re probably going to think that I’m a b*tch because of my Slavic face. It doesn’t help with that. When I’m walking with this flat face and no emotions, I can look very aggressive. So I understand why some people think I’m a b*tch. When you get to know me better, you understand that it’s just something I was born with.

Aryna Sabalenka added

Sabalenka will be starting her campaign against Teodora Kostovic. She reached the semifinals here thrice, including last year. Eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova ended her run last year.

Aryna Sabalenka recalls the TikTok dance with Coco Gauff at last year’s Wimbledon

Aryna Sabalenka lost her cool after her French Open exit this year. She, in fact, had “no thoughts” and “no emotions” and just wanted to “quit tennis” and smash everything. Those were just the outbursts right after a heartbreaking defeat, because, of course, Sabalenka has no thoughts of quitting tennis.

She faced defeat at the hands of Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka blamed the conditions as well as the tournament organizers for not closing the roof. She said nothing that suggested she lost the match because she played badly.

Last year, after her defeat to Coco Gauff in the French Open final, Sabalenka found herself on the receiving end of intense criticism. It was because she believed her performance was the reason behind her defeat, and that Iga Swiatek would have beaten the American had they played in the final.

Sabalenka, to make sure that things are all good between her and Gauff, apologized to her. Gauff, according to Sabalenka, is “such a nice girl” and accepted the apology and also agreed to do a TikTok dance. The tennis world, after watching the video, understood that there was really no bad blood between the two.

We just scheduled the practice. And I was just, like, ‘Girl, don’t you think it would be fun like to do a dance and loosen it up a bit, so people in the community understand that we’re good? […] I knew the dance, and Coco’s so talented she picked it up really quickly. It was two tries, and we’d done it.

Aryna Sabalenka told The Guardian

Gauff will kick off her campaign against Tamara Korpatsch. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion has never progressed beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Sabalenka has played four finals and won three titles this season. But Gauff has played two finals, losing both. She lost the Miami Open final to the four-time Grand Slam singles champion.

Also read: Alexander Zverev Makes Allergy Confession from Wimbledon Grass: “I Suffer from It Every Year”