"Missing 2024 Australian Open is guaranteed" - Tennis fans joke as Aryna Sabalenka follows now-pregnant Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty in winner's list

Tennis fans discussed a strange yet interesting fact about recent Australian Open champions after Aryna Sabalenka won the tournament with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Elena Rybakina.

A tweet was shared earlier this month claiming that all but one of the Asia-Pacific Major's women's singles champions from 2016-2022 were either mothers or are currently pregnant.

2016 winner Angelique Kerber, 2021 champion Naomi Osaka and last year's champion Ashleigh Barty are all pregnant, while Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams both have kids of their own.

Interestingly, former World No. 1 Jennifer Capriati and 2020 champion Sofia Kenin are the only Australian Open winners from the last 26 years who aren't pregnant nor have kids.

Fans were quick to point out this similarity after Aryna Sabalenka's triumph, especially after an Instagram Q and A of hers from 2021 was shared on Twitter. The Belarusian was asked to win a Grand Slam while she was pregnant like Serena Williams did at the 2017 Australian Open.

Back then, Sabalenka joked that she would have to speak to her team and her boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov about it.

A few fans gave their two cents on the situation, with one suggesting that an official announcement from the 24-year-old about her pregnancy was around the corner.

"This makes SO MUCH sense now. We are waiting for the official announcement @SabalenkaA congrats," the fan's tweet read.

One fan posted - "seeing her name after Osaka and Barty, please don't leave us"

One fan stated that Aryna Sabalenka could miss next year's Australian Open due to pregnancy.

"Missing 2024 AO due to pregnancy is guaranteed now," the fan's tweet read.

Another stated that Sabalenka could fall victim to the "Australian Open pregnancy curse".

"Why am I actually afraid that Sabalenka will fall victim to the AO pregnancy curse… let’s hope she takes the kenin approach," the fan's tweet read.

"I was a little bit nervous"- Aryna Sabalenka on her last game in the Australian Open final

Aryna Sabalenka posing with the Australian Open trophy

Sabalenka did not have the easiest of finals on Saturday as she had to come back from a set down to beat Rybakina. The 24-year-old double-faulted on her first Championship point and had to wait till her fourth to get the job done.

Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference that she was a little nervous in her last game and was happy to get through that.

"The last game, yeah, of course I was a little bit nervous. I was keep telling myself like, 'Nobody tells you that it's going to be easy, you just have to work for it, work for it till the last point.' Yeah, there was a tough game. I'm super happy that I was able to handle all those emotions and win this one" the Belarusian said.