During the US Open, American sports journalist John Wertheim was of the opinion that if Aryna Sabalenka were from another country, she would receive more support and publicity. “After watching Sabalenka’s match with Zheng Qingwen, I discussed it with my agent and gave the highest praise to such a wonderful player like Arina… But if Sabalenka was from Bakersfield, Brisbane or Barcelona, and not from Belarus, how differently would she be advertised and perceived?” — the journalist wrote on his page on the social network X.
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Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova agreed with the journalist. “I absolutely agree, this is an eternal problem. Players can only accept it and do their best,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.
There is certainly some truth to this. According to Forbes, Sabalenka earned $7 million in the past 12 months from non-tennis activities. A very good figure, but other female tennis stars have even higher earnings. Japan’s Naomi Osaka earned $14 million off the court, Poland’s Iga Swiatek earned $15 million and American Cori Gauff earned $20 million.
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How did you react to Sabalenka’s title?
At the same time, the fact that Sabalenka has Belarusian citizenship does not seem to negatively affect the level of support for the athlete in the tennis world. Thus, the legendary Martina Navratilova admitted that Arina deservedly won the tournament. “Congratulations to Arina on her third victory at Grand Slam tournaments and her first at the US Open. Today she deserves it!” — Navratilova wrote on her page on the social network X.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz did not ignore Arina’s success. On his social media account X, Alcaraz posted a post with the Belarusian athlete after her winning play in the match against Pegula and signed it with the words: “Arina Sabalenka, congratulations!”, adding the “crazy hands” and “cup” emojis.
US Open winner Andy Roddick 2003 praised Sabalenka’s progress in recent years. “Arina seems to be getting better and better through concentrated work and perseverance. And all this without losing her sense of humour. Hooray for the champion,” Roddick wrote on his X page.
Arina Sabalenka and her coach Anton Dubrov at the US Open 2024 winner’s press conference
Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Current tennis players also congratulated Arina. One of the first to do so was her compatriot Victoria Azarenka. The two-time Australian Open champion reached the US Open final three times, but fell short of the title. “Amazing victory for Arina. Congratulations. The best tennis player in the world this season!” Azarenka wrote on her social network X page.
Three-time TBS finalist Ons Jabeur missed the US Open due to injury. But of course, there was no way I was going to miss the final match. “What a match, girls. Congrats Arina, what a year. Great tournament, Jessica, amazing series of tournaments in the US!” — wrote Jaber on her social media page X.
Muscovite Yulia Putintseva, competing for Kazakhstan, sweetly congratulated Sabalenko. She posted a photo with Arina and captioned it: “Congratulations to the winner.” She added a “heart” emoji.
Arina Sabalenko and Yulia Putintseva
Photo: From the personal archive of Yulia Putintseva.
Five-time TBS champion Iga Swiatek, who has fought Sabalenka more than once or twice (in personal encounters the score was 8-4 in favor of the Pole), left a laconic message on X: “Congratulations, Arina. Wonderful tournament.”
Formula 1 is also aware of Sabalenka’s victory at the US Open. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton witnessed the Belarusian tennis player’s triumph in person.
Lewis Hamilton and journalist Anna Wintour in the US Open 2024 final: Aryna Sabalenka – Jessica Pegula
Photo: Fake Images
The press service of the American Haas team congratulated the tennis player on the title. In May, Sabalenka attended the F1 test in Imola, where she visited the Haas pits.
Arina Sabalenka and Kevin Magnussen
Photo: Haas Team Press Service
“Victory at our team’s home tournament. Congratulations to Aryna Sabalenka on winning her first US Open title. Next time you’re on court, we’ll be sure to celebrate,” the Haas team said in a post on their social media page X (formerly Twitter).
Finally, Sabalenka received congratulations from the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. “In intense fights with the leaders of the world rankings, you demonstrated your best sporting qualities. Wherever the competition takes place, I am sure that you will feel the energy and warm support of your local fans. I wish you good health and new victories,” he congratulated Lukashenko on the Pool of the First telegram channel.
What the finalists said
Pegula, who reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career (previously, six losses in six quarter-finals), admitted that she lost to a very strong opponent. “Looking back, I lost again to a very good tennis player. Almost every time I lost to the girls who won the tournament. I know that my level has always been very good.
“I think I maybe handled things a little bit better this year, just by looking at things differently. I had a tough start to the year and I didn’t expect to do so well on hard court. I managed to turn things around. When I came here there was less pressure,” Jessica said after the match.
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Well, Sabalenka admitted that she was overwhelmed with happiness. “I have no words… I can’t put two words together. I am so happy. I remember all the tough defeats here at the US Open. They say that you will understand the reason for these defeats later, but now I see the reason… I had to go through tough lessons to win this beautiful trophy. I think I am the happiest person in the world now,” Arina said on the court after the match.
She added that mental strength helped her achieve success. “I think I have become very strong mentally. I have experienced a lot on and off the court and I have learned to control my emotions and keep my balance on the court. Even when things don’t go my way, I keep reminding myself: ‘Come on, Arina. You’ve been through a lot. It’s just a tennis match. You can deal with these emotions. You just have to focus on what you need to do to win. Everything will get better little by little. ’ I think that was the biggest change in terms of controlling my emotions,” Sabalenka was quoted by ESPN as saying.
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