MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka is a life lesson. A pick-me-up reel for anyone struggling with anything. She lost her father three years ago. Sergey Sabalenka was 43 and it was because of him that his daughter played tennis.
In the last few years, the Belarussian with a mounting double fault score, a savage 428 from 55 matches last year, was on shaky ground. A runaway leader in that stat on the WTA Tour, she returned to the court every day, refusing to hide. In the fall, she learnt that the issue was more physical than mental. A default setting of biomechanics.
