Aryna Sabalenka opens up on her two personalities

Aryna Sabalenka is dominating women's tennis right now, but the world number one is in a reflective mood.

In a wide-ranging cover interview for Esquire magazine's Mavericks of Sports issue, the 27-year-old Belarusian opened up about her mental evolution, her mistakes, her plans for the future and the two very different versions of herself that coexist on and off the court.

"On the court, I am aggressive, emotional, I need to be to bring out my best tennis. Off the court, I am completely different," Sabalenka told Esquire.

"I am balancing these two personalities really well."

The interview arrived at a moment when Sabalenka's results could hardly be better. She won both the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open in 2026, becoming only the fifth woman in tennis history to complete the Sunshine Double.

Her season record entering April stood at 23-1, with her only defeat coming in the Australian Open final against Elena Rybakina. Yet Sabalenka was candid about the personal battles behind that success.

"I wanted to quit," she said, reflecting on the serve crisis that derailed her 2022 season.

"I couldn't put one serve in. I was double-faulting 40 times. And I was like, maybe that's a sign that I have to quit."

She did not. She worked through it and emerged stronger, and the experience now shapes how she thinks about pressure. "Pressure is power," she said in a separate Wilson advertisement released alongside the Esquire piece.

One of the most revealing passages of the interview concerned how she has learned to handle defeat more gracefully. After losing the 2025 Roland Garros final to Coco Gauff, Sabalenka's immediate press conference reaction was widely criticised as dismissive of her opponent. She has since reflected on it differently.

"I have to take my time after the match before I go to the press conference when I lose. In that moment, I didn't know what I was talking about. Then I went through the stats, talked to my team, and I got to a different conclusion."

She and Gauff subsequently patched things up, even shooting a pair of joint TikToks together.

"I have a lot of regrets," Sabalenka said.

"I think we all do. Mistakes make us better people. It's tough to be the person without regrets and mistakes. You better stay away from those people."

The interview also touched on grief. Sabalenka lost her father in 2019 and has spoken about the impact that had on her.

"It's important to grieve, to cry, to go through the emotions," she said. "Never hold it inside, because it'll destroy you from the inside."

When asked what she would have done if not a tennis player, Sabalenka said she would have been either a boxer or a plus-size model, citing her strong six-foot frame. The answer was characteristically direct and self-aware.

On the subject of retirement, Sabalenka has been equally candid in recent interviews. She has no plans to stop soon but is already thinking about what comes after.

"I think it's going to be very tough for me to retire. So, I think I'll be one of those people who is very old but keeps trying," she said in an earlier Boardroom interview. She has also hinted at wanting to start a family in the next five to seven years and potentially return to competition afterward.

"I don't want to just come back and be on this middle level," she said, making clear that any return would have to meet her own high standards.

As a potential post-retirement sport, Sabalenka has not ruled out pickleball. During a conversation with digital creator Ireland Horvat, she admitted she had tried the sport and suggested it might be something for after her career.

"We're booking already!" Sabalenka responded when a pro pickleball player offered to be her partner.

Off court, she has been building her brand deliberately. She loves fashion and business and has spoken about wanting to develop something in that space once her playing days are over.

"Your career is not long enough, and you have to have something else outside of your sport," she told Boardroom.

Sabalenka withdrew from the Stuttgart Open this week with an undisclosed injury, ending a 23-match winning streak. She is expected to return at the Madrid Open later in April.