With an expression for every occasion, Aryna Sabalenka delights Melbourne crowd in opening win

As she always does, Aryna Sabalenka had an expression for every occasion in her win over Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open on Sunday.

She rolled her eyes toward the sky after easy misses. She gave her coaching team a cold-eyed stare after failing to convert break points. She laughed and covered her mouth when rallies got a little crazy. She glared at her strings as they’d misbehaved when she shanked the ball. She let out a cathartic yell when she won a big point. She dropped to her knees and covered her face when she let a ball go by that landed in.

She did all of that, and more, in a match that ended by the deceptively one-sided scores of 6-3, 6-2. The No. 1 seed’s theatrics alone made it feel much closer and more dramatic.

Read More: Aryna Sabalenka hands Sloane Stephens ninth straight loss while earning 15th successive Australian Open win

Sabalenka’s grunts were equally varied and expressive.

When she smacked a quality ground stroke, she extended her grunt. When she had to hit a ball from above her head, she raised the pitch higher. When she was forced to react quickly to a first serve, she let out a sudden burst of noise. When she saw that her shot had gone for a winner, she added an extra, ascending, celebratory cry.

Ten or 15 years ago, Sabalenka’s soundtrack would have caused a scandal, and led to a lot of hand-wringing in the tennis world. In those days, there was a good deal of discussion about how to rein in, or penalize, the premier shriekers of the day, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. I don’t know how much of a shock or an annoyance Sabalenka’s symphony of grunts is to fans who have never heard it before. But it has been a long time since I’ve heard or read anyone complain about it.

When you’re the world No. 1, you set the trends, make the rules, create the norms. Besides being the best women’s player of the moment, the 6-foot Sabalenka has the physical presence and charisma of a star. You always know what she’s feeling, which makes her a perfect contrast with Iga Swiatek, her primary rival. Swiatek obscures her face with a baseball cap and walks as quickly as possible, with her head down, from one point to the next.

At the same time, Sabalenka is too self-deprecating to be a diva. A regular Tik-Tok dancer, she was asked to show off a few moves after her win on Sunday. She obliged, like a good sport, then said of the crowd, “Now they have the proof that I’m a terrible dancer.”

In 2024, Sabalenka won her first US Open and finished No. 1 for the first time. Now, as 2025 begins, she stands on a new precipice: Can she make herself the proverbial face of the game? Swiatek has had that unofficial title for the last three years—U.S. sports commentators have even learned to pronounce the invisible “n” in her last name. By contrast, I’ve barely heard Sabalenka’s name mentioned at all in the mainstream sports press in the States.

Read More: Aryna Sabalenka departs IMG for Naomi Osaka's EVOLVE agency: "A multi-faceted icon with limitless potential"

Yet Iga has only been dominant on clay, and last year she only owned the tour for a few months in the spring. There’s an opening at the top, and Sabalenka is increasingly looking like she can fill it, full time.

Her win over Stephens may sound routine, but it serves as an example of how much she’s improved. Sabalenka went up 4-0 in the first, and looked comfortable as she whirled around the court and sent diving topspin forehands into the corners for winners. Then, suddenly, Stephens stopped giving her pace to work with, and Sabalenka lost control of those forehands, and lost three straight games.

“I kind of, like, stepped back after few games, [and] didn’t went well,” she said. “I stepped back, and I give her a chance to come back in the match.”

I think it’s a big difference, compare myself to even like three years ago... I'm really glad that I improved my mental toughness.

At 4-3, though, Sabalenka forced herself to step up again, and she prevailed in a long, crucial game. What might have turned into a disaster for her in the past was quickly kept in check.

“I think it’s a big difference, compare myself to even like three years ago,” Sabalenka said. “In that moment I would get frustrated and probably would lose the first set. I’m not sure if I would be able to win the match.”

“I'm really glad that I improved my mental toughness.”

Sabalenka’s quest for a trifecta Down Under is the WTA’s story of the moment. If she gets it, her quest to win on all surfaces, and become the tour’s leading personality, may be the story of the year. Maybe, if she’s good enough for long enough, she can even force the U.S. media to say her name.