6 years since his death, Aryna Sabalenka still gets emotional thinking about late father

Aryna Sabalenka has spoken time and again about the role her father Sergey player in her career, calling him the main reason she entered tennis in the first place and then kept going. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2019 due to meningitis.

Six years since then, Sabalenka is still emotional about his death. A day after enjoying Thanksgiving festivities with her boyfriend Georgios in Miami, the World No. 1 took the time to mourn her late father and share an emotional video.

The video Sabalenka posted on her Instagram Story showed Sergey in his younger days, flexing his muscles during a workout. The Belarusian added a caption about missing him, writing:

"6 years without you dad."

Screengrab from Aryna Sabalenka's Instagram Story

After winning the 2025 US Open, Sabalenka opened about her father Sergey, admitting that she was 'depressed' after his passing and that she wanted to win big titles in tennis to keep their family name in the record books.

“It means a lot. You know, when he passed away, you know, I was very depressed. It was a tough moment for me, for my family,” Aryna Sabalenka said.

“But in that moment, I decided to take it as motivation, to put our family name in the history. I know that he's - I want to believe, and I think I feel his protection from up there, and I know that he became my power. So it means a lot," she added.

Sabalenka won one Grand Slam this season, at the US Open, and finished the year as the World No. 1.

How Aryna Sabalenka discovered tennis through her father Sergey

In a recent interview with Vogue, Aryna Sabalenka revealed how she discovered tennis purely through accident, during a car ride with her father Sergey. The Belarusian stated she immediately fell in love with the sport after that, a sport she continues to love till this day.

“Believe it or not, I found tennis by accident. One day, I was driving around with my dad, and we passed some tennis courts, so we got out of the car and I decided to try it. I immediately fell in love with the sport, and it has been a part of my life ever since," she said.

Sabalenka is currently in the off-season, but will return to the tennis courts later this year for a 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match against Nick Kyrgios.