Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic were engaged in a playful exchange in a mixed doubles charity match at the Rod Laver Arena.
Aryna Sabalenka partnered with Novak Djokovic and Maria Sakkari partnered with Stefanos Tsitsipas for the match. During the match, Novak Djokovic who was standing at the nets, asked Sabalenka to pay attention to his hand gestures during her serve.
Aryna Sabalenka trying to understand Novak Djokovic’s hand signals in mixed doubles.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 11, 2024
“Wow. What a beautiful view I have.” 😂
pic.twitter.com/puN2vjZGue
But, a confused Sabalenka needed help understanding what he was trying to indicate. As the Belarusian got ready for the serve, she was distracted by Djokovic’s wiggling of his butt which she mentioned as a “beautiful view”.
Djokovic blushed at her comments as the crowd erupted into laughter including Stefanos Tsitsipas who went off the court. Maria Sakkari playing on the other side of the court, claimed that Sabalenka’s boyfriend, Konstantin Kolstov would be upset over her remarks. Sabalenka stated that she hoped that her boyfriend wouldn’t watch the charity match, in response to Sakkari’s claims.
“Djokovic: I’m gonna show you a couple of signals, you know?”
“Sabalenka: Can people help me understand what he’s showing? Wow, what a beautiful view I have!”
“Sakkari: I’m sure your boyfriend won’t be happy with that.”
“Sabalenka: I hope he’s not gonna watch it!”
Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions entering into the Australian Open. Djokovic defeated Tsitsipas in the finals to clinch his 22nd Grand Slam title and simultaneously Sabalenka won her maiden Grand Slam singles title defeating Elena Rybakina in the finals.
Aryna Sabalenka eyes title defense at the Australian Open as the second seed
The official list of top 32 seeds in women’s singles has been released for the Australian Open which is all set to kick off, with the main draw starting on Sunday, January 14.
Four-time major winner Iga Swiatek will be the top seed at the Australian Open. The Polish finished the 2023 season as the No.1 player and started her 2024 campaign at the United Cup where she won all her five matches. Aryna Sabalenka will be seeded second and will look to defend her title. She is also in great form finishing as the runners-up at the Brisbane International last week.
2024 Brisbane International champion and last year’s Australian Open runners-up Elena Rybkina is seeded third and will be one of the favorites to win the title.
Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff will enter the tournament as the fourth seed. She won the ASB Classic title defeating Elina Svitolina in the finals, a warm-up event to the tournament.
