Aryna Sabalenka profile: World number one chasing history, but still dogged by questions of allegiance

But the world’s best female tennis player takes on every battle as it comes, big or small, as she aims for her fifth grand slam title. Victory on Saturday would be a third win in Australia, to draw level with Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova in the all-time list.

She reached the final after finding, on Thursday, an opponent who was not on the other side of the net. The Belarusian was penalised and deducted a point after being called out by the umpire for adding a particularly vociferous scream to her follow-through during an early exchange in the Australian Open semi-final.

It did not matter too much. The number one seed was at her very best against Elina Svitolina, overpowering the Ukrainian 6-2, 6-3 in just 77 minutes. But the perceived injustice stung.

“How do I say in a nice way?" she said afterwards. "She [the umpire] really pissed me off, and it’s actually help[ed] me and benefit[ed] my game; I was more aggressive. No reporter in the press conference was brave enough to ask what the not nice way to say it would have been.

Sabalenka’s ability to channel her energy into improvement following a setback has been a theme of her career. Her victory over Svitolina has set up a final against Elena Rybakina.

This might have been how the draw was expected to pan out, but it was not in everybody's script.

The world number one’s imperious form in Melbourne comes after her loss to Nick Kyrgios in the much-maligned “battle of the sexes” match-up in December.

Sabalenka was supposed to have been distracted after this loss. Instead, the 27-year-old has shown once more that she is someone you write off only at your peril.

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Read also: 'Battles of the Sexes’ sees Nick Kyrgios beat Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets

Aryna Sabalenka factfile

- Age 27,

- Singles world ranking: 1,

- From: Minsk, Belarus,

- Grand slam singles titles: Four (Australian Open 2023, 2024; US Open 2024, 2025),

- Grand slam doubles titles: Two (US Open 2019; Australian Open 2021)

- Relationship status: Dating Georgios Frangulis; founder of superfood supplament firm Oakberry

The grunting was not the only talking point from the match against Svitolina, as fans noticed the Ukrainian did not offer the chance to shake hands at the end of the game.

Belarus, the country where she was born in 1998, has backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2022. Svitolina has been consistent in not shaking hands with any Russian or Belarusian-born players throughout the tournament. Afterwards, the Ukrainian did not address her opponent but offered: “[People are] really living horrible and terrifying life in Ukraine, so I should not be allowed to really be sad, because I’m a very, very lucky person.”

Sabalenka did not comment either. Sher typically does not if she is not asked. She has walked a tightrope over the complex and sensitive issue, facing critique from both sides of the divide in her homeland and around the world.

In the past, she has been critical of Alexander Lukashenko, the Putin ally and Trump Board of Peace member, who has been a de facto dictator since Belarus left the Soviet Union. However, Sabalenka has been called out for not going far enough in her opposition to his rule. She voiced displeasure to his dispersal of peaceful protests, yet her signature on a later letter calling for politics to be kept out of sport was taken to be an endorsement of the dictator’s government. She now lives in the US and, since 2022, has not had a flag attached to her name as part of a cross-sport blanket stand against Russian and Belarusian action.

On Ukraine, she has said: "Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, supports the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it.”

It has been enough to take the heat away from her. Yet, with 4.3 million Instagram followers, could Sabalenka be making more use of her platform if she believes what she says?

Ukrainian former pro Sergiy Stakhovsky tweeted: "Aryna Sabalenka saying 'If there would be anything I could do to stop the war, I would do it but the reality is a cannot do anything'. The fact is that she even didn’t try to stop this war and she definitely has the platform to try. So everything she says is empty words."

There are obvious differences here between a 27-year-old woman at the top of her game and a 40-year-old Ukrainian man who has retired from the sport. Fans pointed out that there may only be so much she can do. Fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was removed from a pre-US Open tournament for peace, which she had agreed to play in, back in 2022 due to sensitivities.

Sabalenka finds herself facing professional suicide by appearing to side with Russia, but risking any number of repercussions for her family by openly speaking against a dictator.

She has added: "If they [Ukrainians] feel better by hating me, I'm happy to help them with that. They can do that. But the rest, like, if I could stop the war, I would do that, but unfortunately, it's not in my hands and it's not under my control."

While Svitolina, Stakhovsky and others might, understandably, want her to go further, it is clear Sabalenka wants to focus on tennis. This is not a problem that a world number one has had to face before, but she has been able to walk the tightrope so far without falling.

While politically she has remained muted, Sabalenka has risen in the public consciousness and gained a profile beyond that of a hard-hitting, fast-serving, baseline warrior.

The lead-up to the battle of the sexes match mostly saw her fend off questions about whether such a match was reductive for women’s sport. But it did allow her to reach, perhaps her most mainstream audience yet both on the court and off it, with an appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s US talk show - a clip of her signing the host’s forehead being watched 150,000 times on Instagram alone. She also featured, in 2023, on the Netflix docu-series Break Point.

And then there is her much-reported personal life. Sabalenka had been in a relationship with Konstantin Koltsov, the former Belarusian ice hockey player who sadly died in 2024. The pair had long-since broken up by the time of his death (reportedly by suicide) but she was massively affected by the loss and admitted she was “struggling a lot”.

“Looking back, I definitely think that I should have just stopped and just separated myself from tennis, just have a little break, recharge and start things over again," she told the Independent.

Her relationship with Koltsov was very much kept under wraps, but she has been far more public in dating Brazilian entrepreneur Georgios Frangulis, who has been her boyfriend since April 2024. The founder of superfood brand Oakberry is often seen in the stands at her matches and the pair are keen to show off their time together on social media.

Sabalenka has been an Oakberry ambassador since January 2024, and it is thought their romance bloomed from there.

"Fight like cornered tigers," is what Imran Khan urged his Pakistani cricket teammates to do ahead of the 1992 World Cup final - but it is a phrase Sabalenka has emulated, time and again.

She has a tattoo of a tiger on her left forearm and the big cat also serves as her nickname, referring to her spirit and fiery passion for tennis.

She knows what it takes to defeat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in Melbourne, having done exactly that in 2023.

But the Belarusian has a personal demon to vanquish, having lost at this same stage last year to the then-world number 19 Madison Keys.

It all comes down to a match-up on Saturday where Rybakina might be out for revenge, but will be up against a Sabalenka who feels the need to right a wrong.

And history shows that whether she wants to prove her abilities once more or stick it to an officious umpire, the world number one is at her most dangerous when she has a point to prove.