Aryna Sabalenka says she "has zero control over grunting," and admits she once felt "bad" during an exhibition match with Novak Djokovic after realizing that she was playing with a microphone - which made her grunting even louder.
Apart from her major success on the court, Sabalenka is also known for her very loud on-court grunting. Naturally, it also led to some comparing the Belarusian to Russian tennis icon Maria Sharapova, who was known for the same thing during her playing days.
While appearing on The Tonight Show, Sabalenka was asked about it by Jimmy Fallon. The 27-year-old burst intolaughter and decided to tell a story about the time she actually thought her grunting was too much for the crowd.
Sabalenka: I had a mic on me... I was like, ' We need to give earplugs to the people'
I have zero control over it. One time, I played an exhibition with Novak [Djokovic], and they put a mic on me. I realized that I was grunting and Im like, Oh my god, thats so bad for people. We need to offer earplugs to them! I dont want to annoy people. I wanted to take off the mic, but I think they shut the sound off on the mic when I was hitting the ball," the four-time Grand Slam champion told Fallon.
At the start of the 2024 season, Sabalenka and Djokovic played a mixed doubles match together at the Australian Open. Since it was an exhibition match and meant to be a show for the crowd, the exhibition organizers figured out that placing a microphone on them would make it even more entertaining for the crowd.
