"She said, 'Looks boring... can you work on other Slams?'": Aryna Sabalenka on mother Yuliya's hilarious dissatisfaction at 2 Australian Open trophies

Aryna Sabalenka recently shared a humorous anecdote about her mother, Yuliya, expressing her dissatisfaction with the two Australian Open trophies Aryna has won.

Sabalenka revealed that her mother's discontent stems from having to look at two identical trophies, which has become "boring" and monotonous for her. She won her first Grand Slam at the 2023 Australian Open, where she beat Magda Linette to secure a spot in her first Major final.

There, the World No. 2 beat Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, claiming her first Australian Open title while dropping her first set in the tournament. This year, She defended her Melbourne Major title by defeating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

This win made the Belarusian the first player since Serena Williams in 2007 to triumph in the women’s singles final without dropping serve. She also became the first woman since 2013 to successfully defend her Australian Open title — a feat previously achieved by Victoria Azarenka.

While speaking to the press ahead of her campaign at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open, Sabalenka shared that her mother, Yuliya, keeps both of her Australian Open trophies side by side, referring to them as twins.

Sabalenka also stated that Yuliya has asked her to aim for other Grand Slam titles so that she can add variety to her collection because looking at two similar trophies has become "boring" for her.

"My mom has them, and they are side by side, like she called them twins. She said, 'like we need to kind of play have like different types of them, like it looks boring when you have like just two of the same ones, like can you just work on the other slams?' I'm like, mom, well, what is your request? You could have just appreciated these two; it wasn't easy to get," Aryna Sabalenka said (03:45).

Sabalenka also mentioned that she only celebrated her victories for a week as she prefers to focus on future tournaments rather than dwell on past achievements.

"Probably a week [how long she celebrated the win]. I don't like to focus on goals I was able to achieve. I like to move on and start getting ready for the next ones," she added.

Talking about the emotions she felt after winning the Australian Open for the second time, she said:

"It was definitely different emotions, I would say. Last year, I was kind of like, It was everything — it was new for me. This year I was the defending champion, and I kind of knew what to expect, like what kind of emotions to expect in the last stages of the tournament", Aryna Sabalenka said.

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Aryna Sabalenka after her 2024 Australian Open title win: "I didn't want to be that player to win one Slam and then disappeared"

Aryna Sabalenka with the 2024 Australian Open trophy

Following her win over Zheng Qinwen at the 2024 Australian Open final, Aryna Sabalenka revealed that she did not want to be one of the players who won one Grand Slam title and then dipped.

The Belarusian expressed her satisfaction in not being categorized as such and voiced her ambition to secure additional Grand Slam titles in the future.

"I didn't want to be that player to win [one Slam] and then disappeared. I just wanted to show that I'm able to be consistently there and I'm able to win another one. I really hope that more, more than two right now, but for me was really important," Aryna Sabalenka stated, via WTATour.

Sabalenka also emphasized that her winning two Grand Slam titles has significantly boosted her self-confidence.

"Now having two Grand Slam titles, it's definitely give me more confidence and believe in myself. I just have this knowing that all my life it wasn't, like, wasting of time and I was doing the right thing. I'm where I'm meant to be, so that's really important," She said (via official AO website).