Aryna Sabalenka had an interesting story to tell when revealing how she started working with Anton Dubrov as the Belarusian tennis star revealed that she left her current coach in shock after offering him a coaching position.
30-year-old Dubrov, a former Belarusian ATP player, ended his career very early after playing his last match in 2018 and joining Sabalenka's team as a hitting partner.
At the time, Sabalenka was working with Dmitry Tursunov on a full-time basis. Their partnership was a big success since the rising Belarusian star won five titles and established herself as one of the most promising and talented players in the game. But in 2020, the two went their separate ways. Instead of trying to find a well-known coaching name to replace Tursunov, the current world No. 1 turned to someone who was already in her team - Dubrov.
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Sabalenka: Dubrov freaked out when I asked him to be my next coach
"He was never shy about asking people, I could see he got it. I came to him and said, 'Anton are you ready to be my coach now? He probably freaked out a bit... He kind of freaked out. He was in shock. He said, 'Okay, let's try.' And we just kept going. Step by step," the 27-year-old told Alexander Sokolovsky.
Needless to say, Sabalenka's experiment with Dubrov paid off massively since she is a four-time Grand Slam champion and has been enjoying her second stint at the world No. 1 spot since October 2024.
