Aryna Sabalenka shrugs off body pressure: “I came back from vacation six kilos heavier, and I don’t care”

Aryna Sabalenka’s vacation rule is almost the opposite of her life during the tennis season: for two weeks, she puts away her racket, cuts physical training to a minimum and lets herself return six kilos heavier.

“Normally I only take a couple of weeks of vacation,” Sabalenka said when asked about her break before the new season. During those two weeks, she did not play tennis at all. She went to the gym a few times, she said, but only to walk on a treadmill rather than repeat the demanding sessions she follows during the year.

“I come back six kilos heavier, but I don’t care,” the Belarusian said during the Brisbane tournament. She does not view the figure as a problem because she knows how much training awaits during preseason. Her body, she explained, will gradually return to the condition required for competition.

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Normally I only take a couple of weeks of vacation.

The pause stands out against the schedule of a leading player, who moves between hard courts, clay and grass from January to November while traveling between continents. Sabalenka has also emphasized the importance of recovery after long stretches of competition. Time away from tournaments allows her to restart training with a different physical and mental load.

The approach did not appear to hurt her immediate performance. After the racket-free break, she returned in Brisbane and again ranked among the tournament’s leading players. The WTA also highlighted the subsequent preseason work to add variations to her game.

The relaxed vacation contrasts sharply with Sabalenka’s numbers on court. In July 2026, she reached 100 weeks as world No. 1, a mark previously achieved by only nine players since the WTA rankings began in 1975. By then, she had also won four Grand Slam titles and finished two consecutive seasons at the top of the rankings.

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I come back six kilos heavier, but I don’t care.