Aryna Sabalenka explains the origin story of her nickname ‘Daughter of China’ as she prepares for first event as the World No. 1

Aryna Sabalenka set to return to China for the first time since the pandemic.

Aryna Sabalenka explains the origin story of her nickname ‘Daughter of China’ as she prepares for first event as the World No. 1

Aryna Sabalenka (Image via Sports Illustrated)

Women’s Tennis Assosciation (WTA) World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has explained the reason for her nickname ‘Daughter of China’. Sabalenka has always shown good success in China. However, she gives a truly unique explanation for her particular nickname.

“I remember they used to call me Daughter of China. It was really cool. I liked it,” she said in an interview. It was evident that the Belarusian took great pride in her nickname. However, she brought down the reason for her nickname to her love for fried rice. “I guess I really liked fried rice and that’s why I’m doing well here,” she joked.

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Nevertheless, Sabalenka has seen an incredible amount of victories in China, especially when she was just kickstarting her career and establishing herself in the tennis world. Nevertheless, the Australian Open champ joked that all her success was only about the perfect fried rice.

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Sabalenka won her maiden WTA 1000 event at the Wuhan Open in 2018. 2019 saw one of the strongest years in China for the Belarusian. While she was able to defend her Wuhan Open title she also managed to win the 2019 Shenzen Open and the WTA Elite trophy the same year.

However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw all tournaments being canceled all around the world. Sabalenka is set to return to China for the first time since 2019. She will be returning to the country in better shape than when she left it. The last time, she was just an up-and-comer in the sport. However, she will be returning as the No.1 women’s tennis player in the World.

Related: Daniil Medvedev believes winning the China Open will be a ‘memory of a lifetime’ owing to its packed draw 

Aryna Sabalenka set to return to China for the first time since the pandemic

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has been incredibly successful in China. However, she will be returning to the country for the first time since 2019. She closed her time in China in 2019 with a win at the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 event.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via Tennis.com)

She had won four titles successively in China. Beginning with the Wuhan Open in 2018, she followed her success in the country with a successful defense of her titles in 2019 at Wuhan. She topped off this success with the Shenzen Open and WTA Elite Trophy in the same year.

However, she was not able to keep up this form for long. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tennis world came to a halt when a large number of events were canceled. In 2023, she will hope to pick up where she left off, starting at the China Open.

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