The two sides of tennis star Aryna Sabalenka: Terminator on the court, goofball off of it

One luxury of being a reporter covering the BNP Paribas Open is that you get to know the players' personalities from being with them in multiple inteview sessions over the two-week span.

On the court, almost every tennis player seems like a cold-blooded tennis-playing assassin hitting precise shots, calculating angles, singularly focused on their own perfection and vanquishing their opponent with all the fun of a chess grandmaster hunched over the board.

Then you talk to them after the match. And sure, sometimes the personality matches that serious and focused demeanor, but every once in a while you're caught off guard when you learn that the player who just tore their opponent to shreds is a straight-up goofball.

That's Aryna Sabalenka.

The 26-year-old Sabalenka will face 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Sunday in what should be a very entertaining final, but probably not as entertaining as a Sabalenka press conference. Here are a few of her greatest hits during the Indian Wells fortnight.

Aryna Sabalenka smiles as she's interviewed after her third-round win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Monday, March 10, 2025.

She was asked Friday night about her jovial nature: "I don't know. It's just the way I am, the way we are in the team, and this is the environment I have been raised in. Everyone is making fun of each other. Everyone is happy, young, and probably sometimes behave like a kid, which is good and bad, but whatever it is. Maybe I'm just not smart and I'm a kid in the head. Who knows? Ask my team."

On facing a 17-year-old in the final: "I still feel like I'm 18. You know, it's just so awkward for me to think that I'm 26 and 27 this year, and she's 17 and is, like, just two years older than my sister. I look at my sister as, like, a kid. You know, I remember her being this little baby. So I look at Mirra and think, oh, my God, I'm so old. Yeah, that's just crazy. I'm depressed right now. Why do you ask that question? I'm almost 30 (smiling)."

How does she spend her downtime here in the desert: "Chilling, watching Netflix, watching Netflix, Formula 1, watching Netflix. Not even going out. Ordering or actually cooking with the team. I have two Italians (on my team), very smart (of me), I have to say. Pasta, bellissima. So, yeah, eating and Netflix. Right now I'm watching 'Formula 1', the last season. Before it was 'Zero Day'. Kind of like, you know, a little bit of everything."

Who on the WTA has the best forehand, backhand, serve and return of serve? "Serve, I mean, on a good day, I'd say me. Forehand, Sinner. Can I go like that? Just WTA? OK. Forehand? Backhand? I mean I'm just so much in love with myself on the good days. I cannot think about any players (laughter). Can you believe me? Wait. Serve, Elena (Rybakina) when she's in her good days. Forehand... can you help me right now? Oh, yeah, Madison. Backhand? Guys, you're just killing me right now. Coco is good. Thank you, guys, for helping me. Anyone help? Just skip this question. I'm so bad."

And, of course, this is not to say that Sabalenka doesn't take her tennis life seriously. She was crushed and heartbroken when she lost the Australian Open to Madison Keys. She mentioned that multiple times and channeled that into her destruction of Keys on Friday.

But when you're watching Sunday's final with Andreeva, who is also a bit of a card, facing Sabalenka with her imposing frame, serious face and powerful groundstrokes, just know that Sabalenka is minutes away from saying something funny on the court in the traditional post-match interview win or lose, and probably an hour away from doing some sort of TikTok dance with her team.

As she said, she'll always be "a kid in the head."

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Aryna Sabaenka and her best quotes from BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells

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