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World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka's fitness coach, Jason Stacy, has shed light on a crucial aspect with respect to female athletes that has often been overlooked. Menstruation can wreak havoc on women's bodies, and competing at a high level during their monthly cycle is a complex thing to navigate for a player and her team.
As Sabalenka's fitness coach, Stacy is privy to her challenges during her cycle. He has now spoken about the same during his appearance on The Line. He was initially surprised at how little material is available to deal with this common phenomenon.
"In recent years, as far as I can remember, I could see that there was a thing there, and you couldn't find any information on how to train, how to do this or the differences. But you know, I'm working with so many girls, like with some of the younger girls, and how it was all influencing how they felt, their mood, reactions, even their body," Stacy said.
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Stacy stated that Sabalenka's game has been affected at times by her cycle. He also added that he doesn't want her to take any medication to stop it completely. His priority is for her to remain healthy so she can start a family in the future, one of her cherished goals.
"Aryna has a thing, a certain day, like you can see matches where you're like, 'What is going on with her?' And it's nothing to do but with her cycle, the timing, where she just has no sense of her body. We're working on different things to help that, which we're always going to be working on," Stacy said.
"At the end of the day, you can't always change those things. Especially with our lifestyle, the schedule. My priority is making sure she stays as healthy as a woman. I don't want her to take birth control and do all these different things where everyone wants to stop this. We're going to make sure she has a healthy one, and when she wants a family, and when she's done, she's going to be mentally, emotionally, physically going to be strong and healthy," he added.
Stacy has been a part of Sabalenka's team since 2018, and remains the longest-serving member of her coaching entourage. Their camaraderie is quite evident, and he has also become her good luck charm.
Aryna Sabalenka's ritual of signing Jason Stacy's shaved head has worked wonders for her
Athletes are known to be a little superstitious at times, and Aryna Sabalenka is no different. Over the years she has developed her own little ritual, and it involves her fitness coach, Jason Stacy.
Sabalenka often signs his shaved head before matches, something that became a public spectacle during her successful title defense at the Australian Open 2024. Not just that, she even high-fives his head after a match. She repeated this during the US Open 2024, and claimed her third Major title in the process.
Aside from Stacy, Sabalenka's team also includes long-time coach Anton Dubrov and hitting partner Andrei Vasilevski. She brought on board Max Mirnyi, 10-time Major champion in doubles and her compatriot, as a consultant this year.
