{"id":1168920,"date":"2026-08-25T17:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1168920\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:54:15","slug":"aryna-sabalenka-talks-tennis-at-guccis-fifth-avenue-flagship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1168920\/","title":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka Talks Tennis at Gucci’s Fifth Avenue Flagship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAryna Sabalenka, the number-one women\u2019s tennis player in the world, took center stage at Gucci\u2019s <\/a>Fifth Avenue flagship Monday night to talk about such topics as her friendship with Novak Djokovic; her history of arguing with coaches; her puppy Ash [named after Arthur Ashe Stadium]; her engagement; wellness and match-prep routine; her love of Demna, creative and artistic director at Gucci<\/a>, and the fun she has working with stylist Karla Welch.<\/p>\n

\n\tSabalenka<\/a>, who is a Gucci<\/a> brand ambassador (and just signed with Moroccanoil as its newest global brand ambassador) and has four Grand Slam titles, is a two-time defending champion of the U.S. Open, and is gunning for a \u201cthree-peat\u201d starting next week. She has been the number-one ranked player in the world for 90 weeks straight.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn stage, she was interviewed by Nicole Phelps, global director of Vogue Runway and Vogue Business and a cohost of \u201cThe Run-through With Vogue\u201d podcast, and Corey Seymour, a senior editor at Vogue, who oversees much of the magazine\u2019s tennis coverage.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfterward, Sabalenka told WWD that she\u2019s excited to be back in New York City. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful city and everyone is motivated running somewhere. It really motivates me,\u201d said the 28-year-old tennis star, who was born in Belarus, but now lives in Miami.<\/p>\n

\n\tSabalenka said she really likes the crowds at the U.S. Open. \u201cWhen you get them on your side, they\u2019re the best,\u201d she said. On Tuesday, she was due to play mixed doubles with Djokovic, and will start her run for the U.S. Championship next week.<\/p>\n

\n\tTalking about what she likes to wear on the court, Sabalenka said, \u201cIt depends on Nike [she has had an endorsement partnership with Nike since 2017] but I love when it\u2019s classy, with small details, or if it\u2019s completely opposite, something fun, something like out of your mind. Classy and crazy. My favorite colors are black, red, and white and some neutral colors. Whenever I have the opportunity to wear red, I go for it,\u201d said Sabalenka, who became engaged to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis in March at Indian Wells, Calif.<\/p>\n

\n\tSabalenka was asked whether there\u2019s any body part \u2014 such as her shoulders, arms or legs \u2014 she likes to show off when she dresses to go out at night. \u201cI like to expose my legs,\u201d said the 6-foot athlete.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe said winning still means the same to her as it did when she was starting out. \u201cIt\u2019s never changed, which I think is a good thing. I always have been a passionate person about tennis. I\u2019m really desperate for winning. Whenever I do that I still feel the same. I experience the same feeling [from even being a little kid],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs there more pressure to defend the women\u2019s title at the U.S. Open?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI just try to focus on myself. I know that if I\u2019ll be able to focus on myself, I\u2019ll get my chances,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tExplaining how the mixed doubles with Djokovic came about, Sabalenka said, \u201cHe is the one who asked me. Of course I said \u2018yes\u2019 because it\u2019s always fun and it\u2019s great to spend time on the court with Novak. He is always open for advice, and you learn from being around him on the court. So how can I say \u2018no\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDoes she think she might play Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz, who are also mixed doubles partners? <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWho knows, it depends how we do,\u201d said Sabalenka.<\/p>\n

\n\tFinally, when asked what she\u2019s most looking forward to in the next two weeks, Sabalenka said, \u201cI just want to have fun, and I\u2019m excited for the fights that the U.S. Open is going to bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fights?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe battles, I\u2019m excited to play some tennis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aryna Sabalenka, the number-one women\u2019s tennis player in the world, took center stage at Gucci\u2019s Fifth Avenue flagship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1168921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4105],"tags":[72066,79,1068,16,15],"class_list":["post-1168920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-gucci","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117157433578356100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1168920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1168921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1168920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1168920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1168920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}