Breaking News: Kim Clijsters weighs in on Aryna Sabalenka situation after star refused help…see more

Afterwards, Sabalenka touched on her father’s passing and added: “Yeah, I faced a lot of challenges on and off the court.”

The 26-year-old has previously shed light on the dream she and her dad shared for her to put their name in the history books by winning a Grand Slam title and becoming world No. 1.

She was able to achieve both last year, and has gone on to win two more Majors in 2024.Fellow former world No. 1 Clijsters has been impressed by something away from the tennis court.

Touching on Sabalenka’s personal tragedies, she commended the Belarusian for figuring things out mentally.

“I think what happened to her father, the situation in Miami with her ex-boyfriend, they have an impact on your life,” she said on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast.

“A few years ago she did a press conference, I think it was at the Australian Open few years ago, where she said like, ‘Yeah, I just started to look, everyone is recommending a psychologist to me and a couple of times I went to talk to my psychologist and I realised like, everything you’re saying is things I have to handle myself.

I don’t need this. I need to grow up. I need to figure out like, okay, my attitude needs to change in certain ways.’ And there’s not a lot of players who can do that.”