WTA World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka offered fans a behind-the-scenes look at her recent photoshoot for TIME magazine, sharing sultry images and video on Instagram.
Sabalenka, who is featured on the cover of TIME's Sept. 7 issue, posted content from a photo session held at an outdoor tennis court in South Florida. In the images, the 28-year-old Belarusian athlete is seen in a black swimsuit and kitten heels, posing on and around a tennis court.
In an accompanying interview with TIME, Sabalenka spoke about the challenges of balancing her demanding professional tennis career with her personal life. "I want to be remembered as a fighter on court, but so cool and fun off court," she stated. "I think it’s really important for kids to understand that you have to balance. You don’t have to be fully, fully focused on your dreams. One day they can destroy you."
Sabalenka's recent performance includes a fourth-round exit at the Canadian Open last week, where she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova. This followed a similar fourth-round defeat to Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon in July. After the Wimbledon loss, Sabalenka had mentioned wanting to "get completely drunk" and "forget about tennis" for a period.
She clarified to TIME that after Wimbledon, she took a vacation to Greece, where she had "a couple of drinks" and "danced a little bit," managing to forget about tennis for a few days without getting drunk. Her vacation activities included dancing, enjoying espresso martinis, lounging by a pool, and diving into the Aegean Sea.
Looking ahead, Sabalenka is focused on achieving a third consecutive U.S. Open victory. If successful, she would become the first player since Serena Williams 12 years ago to accomplish this feat at the U.S. Open, and only the third woman in the modern era, following Chris Evert. "It’s history," Sabalenka said. "You get hungrier as you go."