WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka has hilarious reaction when baby starts to cry during her match against Elena Rybakina

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka locked horns with Elena Rybakina at the 2024 World Tennis League exhibition event.

WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka has hilarious reaction when baby starts to cry during her match against Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina took on Aryna Sabalenka in an exhibition match (Images via X)

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are participating in the 2024 World Tennis League. Sabalenka represented team Hawks and took on team Falcon’s Rybakina on December 19.

Sabalenka was 5-0 but the Kazakh ace made a stunning comeback to close the gap and level the scores. As the match was pushed to the tie-break, at one point during it, a baby in the crowd started crying. When Sabalenka heard that, she joked that she also felt like crying like the baby. “That’s exactly how I feel right now,” said Sabalenka.

YouTube video

Watch the video here:

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The World No.1 eventually won that match and during the on-court interview, she gave a hilarious reason why she failed to dominate Rybakina.

I was just telling myself you can’t be that tough on Elena. She’s such a nice person. You cannot do that to her. So I was like okay, let’s be friendly and get it to 5-5 and then we’ll see who’s going to get that one.

Aryna Sabalenka said

Both Rybakina and Sabalenka last played an official match at the Billie Jean King Cup. Rybakina lost her first two matches of the Round Robin stage but later went past Sabalenka in three sets. The three-time Grand Slam singles champion, on the other hand, reached the semifinal but was downed by Coco Gauff, who later went on to win the title.

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Andrea Petkovic said Aryna Sabalenka is the overwhelming favorite at Australian Open

Former tennis player Andrea Petkovic explained why Aryna Sabalenka will be the heavy favorite at the Australian Open. The Belarusian will arrive in Melbourne as the defending champion.

Aryna Sabalenka (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X)

I think [Aryna] Sabalenka is the overwhelming favorite just because I know how seriously she takes the off-season. I know she will put in all the work and I think she is the best hardcourt player we have. I think she has proven that not only this year but over the last few years.

Andrea Petkovic said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

Petkovic also pointed out how Sabalenka has been performing consistently on the hard courts. In 2024, she won the Australian Open and the US Open.

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These were two of the four titles (Cincinnati Open and the Wuhan Open) she won in 2024, all on hard courts. Sabalenka will kick start her campaign for the 2025 season at the Brisbane International before flying to Melbourne for the Major event.