Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 women’s singles player, abruptly ended a training session with ATP star Andrey Rublev after just five minutes, citing the overwhelming intensity of his ball-striking. Speaking ahead of her 2025 Madrid Open title run, where she defeated Coco Gauff 6-3, 7-6(3) in the final, Sabalenka shared the anecdote in a press conference, as reported by *Yardbarker* and *The Tennis Gazette* on May 6, 2025. When asked if she had ever faced a harder hitter than herself, known for her powerful groundstrokes, Sabalenka laughed, “I don’t know. Maybe when I was practicing with the guys. I practiced with Rublev, that was really intense. I was like, ‘Okay, whatever, I’m done.’ I was done in five minutes.” She clarified that raw power isn’t the key to success, adding, “You can hit really hard but not in the right target. The guys serve stronger, obviously.”[]
The session, which occurred before Madrid, highlighted the physical disparity between men’s and women’s tennis, with Rublev’s aggressive playstyle proving too much for Sabalenka to handle in practice. Despite the brief encounter, Sabalenka’s 2025 season has been stellar, with six finals in eight events, including titles in Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid, securing her 11,118 WTA ranking points—nearly 3,500 ahead of Iga Swiatek. Her ability to laugh off the Rublev experience underscores her confidence, though posts on X, like @TennisUpToDate2, framed the moment as “drama unleashed,” amplifying its buzz.
Sabalenka’s decision to quit wasn’t a reflection of weakness but a strategic choice to preserve energy for competition. Her Madrid performance, where she matched Petra Kvitova’s record of three titles, showed her focus on precision over brute force, a lesson possibly reinforced by the Rublev session. As she prepares for the Italian Open, where she faces Swiatek and Gauff again, Sabalenka’s lighthearted take on the incident—shared widely on X—reveals her mental resilience, a trait that has defined her rise above personal challenges, like the loss of her father in 2019, and professional pressures.
