Australian Open: Aryna Sabalenka hails the ‘best morning of my life’ as she revels in grand slam breakthrough
- New champion did not get much sleep on Saturday night after a come-from-behind victory in three gruelling sets against Elena Rybakina
- ‘I still feel like I’m on another planet trying to understand what just happened,’ she says during photo shoot at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens
New Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka did not get much sleep on Saturday night after a come-from-behind victory, but you would not have known it early on the morning after.
“I still feel like I’m on another planet trying to understand what just happened,” Sabalenka said while revelling in a photo shoot at Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
Resplendent in a glamorous pink dress and wearing high heels instead of her usual tennis pumps, Sabalenka took to a boat and glided around a lake with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup clutched firmly in hand.
The powerful Belarusian, who will become world No 2 on Monday, showed a new side to her personality, posing effortlessly in front of the cameras.
She even managed a few high kicks, despite being understandably stiff after being taken to three gruelling sets less than 12 hours earlier by Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
“How are you still managing to do that?” she was asked.
