Aryna Sabalenka claims practicing with Novak Djokovic helped her become mentally and physically stronger, and that helps her in WTA matches.
For years, Sabalenka and Djokovic have had a strong tennis relationship. Over the years, the Belarusian tennis complimented the record 24-time Grand Slam champion several times. On the other side, the 38-year-old Serb offered advice to the 27-year-old WTA star whenever she needed one.
Then, the WTA No. 1 and Djokovic figured out they should try practicing together.
Sabalenka: When I play against girls, I'm not tired physically because I practice with Djokovic
"He's a great guy and he's very open. You can ask anything and he can give you advice. And he's such an open guy and I love practicing with him because for me it's such high-intensity training. It just helps me physically and even mentally to get better. And then when I play against girls, I'm not getting tired physically because I practice with Novak," the top-ranked WTA player said, via France24.
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In the same interview, Sabalenka - who lost back-to-back Grand Slam finals at this year's Australian Open and French Open - revealed that she reached out to Djokovic at Wimbledon and asked him to advise her how to approach the biggest Grand Slam matches.
"So we talked for an hour probably, but with Novak you always can spend more than that talking and asking for advice," Sabalenka said.
While the 27-year-old didn't manage to win Wimbledon, she avoided going Slam-less in 2025 after making it all the way at the US Open for the second consecutive year. Now, the Belarusian tennis star has four Slams in seven finals played.
When Sabalenka won the US Open, she didn't hide how relieved she felt as she made it perfectly clear at the start of the tournament that she absolutely didn't want to conclude her great year without winning a Grand Slam.
