Aryna Sabalenka had a fangirl moment at the Australian Open 2026 when she clicked a selfie with tennis legends Roger Federer and Rod Laver after her narrow first-round win on Sunday, January 18. Sabalenkova overcame French wild card Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-4, 6-1, where she found herself first after trying to break.
Australian Open 2026 Day 1 Update
Sabalenka said after her victory that she was a big fan of both legends and wanted to show her best tennis in front of them. The Belarus star said she kept reminding herself throughout the match not to look at Laver and Federer in the crowd and admitted she was under pressure to perform.
Australian Open 2026: Complete coverage
“Yeah! I’m a big fan guys, can I take a picture with you please?” she asked, turning to Federer and Laver. “I was a little bit nervous, I wanted to play great tennis so that you guys enjoy watching me play.”
“But, my God, what a privilege. Thank you so much, I really hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit. That was definitely a lot of pressure. The whole game I was going around thinking, don’t look there, don’t look there, don’t look there.”
HOW SABALENKA GOT TO THE SECOND ROUND
Sabalenkova began her pursuit of a third Australian Open in four years in a rather sloppy way. She lost the first three points of the match on serve and the fans were a bit shocked. Although she managed to make it a deuce, she then failed again to soon go down a point.
Sabalenková was able to improve to 4:4, but mistakes continued to trouble her in the first set. However, she was able to break the French wild card and then let her down in the second set. Sabalenkova’s next opponent will be either Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan.
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Published on:
January 18, 2026