US Open Champion Aryna Sabalenka Is Defending Her Title

Boardroom with Rich Kleiman

Boardroom Podcast Network

Sports, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.4 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Reigning US Open champion and world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reflects on her breakout year in an exclusive Boardroom Cover Story interview with co-founder Rich Kleiman. Following her first Grand Slam win last September, Sabalenka has emerged as one of the most dominant and recognizable figures in tennis, and she opens up about the pressure of defending her US Open title, the emotional rollercoaster of elite competition, and the personal growth that comes with life at the top. She discusses the challenges of winning over American crowds during high-stakes matches like her victory against Jessica Pegula, the intense discipline required to maintain her No. 1 ranking, and the career-defining move of switching from IMG to Naomi Osaka’s agency, Evolve. Sabalenka also dives into the off-court aspects of her rising stardom, from expanded branding opportunities to how idols like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal helped shape her mindset and ambitions. She shares her goals for the future—both on the court and in life—as she aims to build a lasting legacy in women’s tennis while hoping to one day balance starting a family with continuing to compete at the sport’s highest level.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I don't like watching myself playing.
0:02.0	I get annoyed by the way I am on Kloy because it's so different.
0:08.0	I feel embarrassed every time.
0:10.0	Use soap and is kind of like similar to Australia.
0:13.0	They just probably drink a little bit more than Australian.
0:15.0	I'm going to keep sending them tequila and just so get them thrown on my side.
0:20.0	If you compare our sport to other, if you see the percentage, it's like a joke. Is your workout regimen just insane? If I do heavy weights for one week, my muscles are getting really big. It's just tough to play tennis after that. Is there a part of your game that you want to keep evolving? Yeah, I want to have a better slice. I want to use it more often.
0:37.7	I have a great backhand slice, actually.
0:39.5	Can you come to all practice and you can help me?
0:41.6	I'll work with you a little bit, yeah.
0:43.2	If you were in charge of the WTA for a day, what would you like to change?
0:49.9	Hi, my name is Arina Sabalanka and this is boardroom cover story. There's so much pressure in sports in general, but I always think about tennis as like this intense
1:17.0	pressure being, you know, an individual sport.
1:19.6	Does a whole other layer of pressure start to creep in when you get to that top spot?
1:24.6	Because when you're climbing and you're eyeing it, it's such a clear vision. But when you're there, it's about maintaining it. Well, yeah, I mean, I think pressure is part of our lives. And the moment you understand that this is normal and you don't have to avoid it, you just have to live with it. You know, you kind of like put it aside and it's there, it's constantly there,
1:44.9	but you put it aside and you focus on different things. It's really important to have right
1:49.4	people around you because when you have this healthy environment, it also helps to kind of like
1:54.8	forget about the pressure and focus on the right things. Even though being number one in the world
1:58.9	is incredible, is the real focus still for somebody
2:03.1	in your position about the majors?
2:05.3	I mean, of course, everyone chasing majors, but, and nobody really, I think in top ten,
2:12.6	nobody really cares about ranking.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Boardroom Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Boardroom Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.