Aryna Sabalenka reveals biggest lesson she learnt from Novak Djokovic after surprise double date with Serb & his wife Jelena

Aryna Sabalenka's camaraderie with Novak Djokovic has been the talk of the town. The two are among the tour's most extroverted personalities. They recently went on a fun double date with their respective partners, boyfriend Georgios Frangulis and wife Jelena, during their time off in Greece.

However, it's not all fun and games with these two. Sabalenka also looks up to Djokovic as a mentor. She divulged what has been the most important piece of wisdom shared by the 24-time Major champion in a press conference ahead of the WTA Finals 2025, where she's currently competing.

For Sabalenka, the biggest takeaway from Djokovic's numerous life lessons has been staying calm and objectively analyzing a situation during a match. Essentially looking at a situation from a third person's point of view.

"How to stay settled and how to look at everything as you're looking from the outside on the situation on the court, off the court. Just to, like, be able to sit back and look at everything. Kind of like it's not you looking, it's someone else looking at your situation. I think that's the best lesson that you could take from Novak," Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka also gave context with regards to how the double date with Djokovic materialized. The two were practicing side-by-side at the same time, and the Serb casually floated the idea of a dinner date with their partners.

"Hmmm... Actually we saw each other on the courts. We were practicing. I don't remember. We were just practicing together. We were at the same place. He was just like, Yeah, let's go for the date. That's how it happened. So Novak (laughter)," Sabalenka stated.

Sabalenka will be eager to utilize all of Djokovic's tips in order to succeed at the WTA Finals. She has already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking, attaining the feat for the second year in a row. Winning the WTA Finals would be the cherry on top.

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Aryna Sabalenka will begin her WTA Finals campaign against Jasmine Paolini

Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Finals 2025. (Photo: Getty)

The WTA Finals 2025 will take place from November 1-8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The tournament is the only one which has a round-robin phase before the knockout rounds. The eight-player field is divided into two groups of four.

Aryna Sabalenka headlines Group Steffi Graf, which also includes Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, and Jessica Pegula. The Belarusian will contest her first match of the tournament against Paolini on Sunday, November 2.

Sabalenka has won her last four matches against Paolini, all in straight sets. However, her next two matches could be tricky. She lost her most recent meetings against Gauff and Pegula. She went down to the former in the French Open final, and was beaten by the latter in the Wuhan Open semifinals.

Sabalenka's best result at the WTA Finals has been a runner-up finish to Caroline Garcia in 2022. She has advanced to the semifinals for the past two years after going 2-1 during the group stage on both occasions.

Edited by Rohit