- Glamorgan approach Hollywood's Reynolds and McElhenney over Hundred investment
- League Cup still 'significant' for Man Utd boss Ten Hag
- Brazil's farmers fret over fires and drought
- Top Biden aide says US economy at 'turning point'
- US military says withdrawal from Niger is complete
- Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final
- Toll hits 17 as Storm Boris lashes central Europe
- Hamas chief says ready for 'long war' in Gaza
- Suspect in Trump assassination attempt charged with gun crimes
- Iran's new president vows to ensure morality police don't 'bother' women
- Australia put teenage quick Beardman on standby for England ODIs
- Americans, Swiss snatch lifeline in Louis Vuitton Cup
- Trump blames Biden and Harris 'rhetoric' for assassination bids
- Ex-BBC anchor avoids jail over 'repugnant' images of children
- Brentford forward Wissa out for 'a couple of months'
- Titanic shipbuilder sinks back into trouble
- Where in the world is closest to becoming a '15-minute city'?
- Russia evacuates border villages in Kursk region
- US election in newly volatile territory after Trump alleged assassination bid
- France probes online threats against Afghan taekwondo fighter
- Sinner hires Djokovic's ex-fitness coach after dope test row
- Swifties raise $40k in wake of Trump post hating on star
- Fear and tears as Storm Boris wrecks Czech town
- Penpix of candidates to succeed Bach as IOC President
- Azerbaijan Grand Prix - three things we learned
- AC Milan midfielder Bennacer out for four months
- British politics and fashion collide at London Fashion Week
- French YouTuber hits peak with Everest documentary
- Athletics legend Coe vies with six rivals for IOC presidency
- Bellingham, Tchouameni back for Madrid's Champions League opener
- Stock markets diverge before Fed as China woes weigh
- French jihadist linked to Charlie Hebdo attackers goes on trial
- Bombshell as France's Breton slams door on EU commission
- African players in Europe: Wissa 22-second goal in vain
- Storm Boris unleashes central Europe flooding, toll hits 11
- Man City fight to avoid severe sanctions as 'trial of the century' begins
- UK PM Starmer meets Italy's Meloni for illegal immigration talks
- Van Dijk urges Liverpool to hit back after 'unacceptable' Forest loss
- Ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards to be sentenced over indecent child images
- France's Breton quits EU Commission in reappointment row
- Violence, threats hang over Trump-Harris race after turbulent weekend
- Sho-what? Japan celebrates little heard-of Emmys winner
- Tito Jackson, member of the Jackson 5, dies at 70
- Hong Kong man faces jail over 'seditious' T-shirt
- EU to name new defence tsar - but is the job a dud?
- Vietnam puts typhoon losses at $1.6 billion
- Europe's EV troubles bubble up at Brussels Audi factory
- Germany expands border controls to curb migrant arrivals
- 'Disappeared completely': melting glaciers worry Central Asia
- Villa return to Champions League primed to ruffle feathers again
RBGPF | 8.3% | 62.16 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.46% | 6.59 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.32% | 25.03 | $ | |
NGG | 0.93% | 70.25 | $ | |
BCC | -0.56% | 135.1 | $ | |
SCS | 1.78% | 14.04 | $ | |
RIO | 1.03% | 63.2 | $ | |
VOD | 1.6% | 10.335 | $ | |
AZN | 0.94% | 79.015 | $ | |
RELX | 0.8% | 48.095 | $ | |
GSK | 1.18% | 43.525 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 25.06 | $ | |
BCE | -0.55% | 34.475 | $ | |
JRI | 0.69% | 13.282 | $ | |
BTI | 0.52% | 39.375 | $ | |
BP | 1.32% | 32.265 | $ |
Three things on US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday defeated Jessica Pegula to win the US Open title and claim a third Grand Slam title to add to her back-to-back Australian Open crowns.
AFP Sport looks at three things to know about the 26-year-old world number two from Belarus:
Personal tragedy
-- Sabalenka's rise to the top of the sport has been accompanied by tragedy.
This year's US Open was the first Grand Slam she had played since the death of her former boyfriend in March.
Ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, once a star of the NHL, died from apparent suicide at the age of 42.
Sabalenka described the death as an "unthinkable tragedy."
"While we were no longer together, my heart is broken," she wrote on a social media post.
Five years ago, Sabalenka's father Sergiy passed away from meningitis at just 43.
It was her father who introduced her to tennis at the age of six when they started hitting balls on empty courts in Minsk.
"I'm just trying to fight because my dad wanted me to be number one," she said at the time. "I'm doing it for him."
She honoured her father's memory by becoming world number one in September last year, a season which saw her claim her maiden Slam in Australia, finish runner-up in New York and make the semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon.
War controversy
-- Sabalenka had links to Belarus's controversial leader Alexander Lukashenko before she came under pressure to denounce him for the country's support of Russia in the invasion of Ukraine.
"I'm not supporting the war. I don't support war, meaning I don't support Lukashenko," she said at a testy news conference at the 2023 French Open where she cancelled media commitments claiming she felt unsafe.
"I don't want my country to be involved in any conflict. I said it many times. You have my position. You have my answer," she said.
Sabalenka had enjoyed a close association with Lukashenko in the past.
In 2018, she requested a one-to-one meeting with him, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta.
The following year, in an interview with the country's largest independent news site Tut.by, she spoke glowingly of the Belarusian leader.
On December 31, 2020, after a year marked by the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations in Belarus, Sabalenka toasted the new year with Lukashenko in Minsk.
Arm of the tiger
-- On the inside of her left arm, Sabalenka has a prominent tattoo of a tiger to mark the year of her birth, 1998, which was also the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac system.
She's had the tattoo since she was 18, although her parents were not immediately won over.
"My parents didn't know, and when they saw it the first time my dad was laughing. I don't know why but my mom didn't talk to me for one week," she said.
"It's special as sometimes I need to remind myself that I am the tigress and I need to fight till the end. I just put it on my arm to make sure I can see it every time and be on fire."
Sabalenka isn't afraid to bring others into the world of ink -- for good luck, she regularly signs her name on the bald head of fitness coach Jason Stacy before every match.
On Saturday, she went further and had a copy of her tiger tattoo drawn on his head instead.
X.Brito--PC