Aryna Sabalenka: I was really afraid to come here to be honest

Tipped as one of the dark horses at this years Australian Open Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka spoke about her feelings while coming to Melbourne. It was a really great atmosphere, a lot of people watching, which I didnt really expect.

Someone was screaming my name. I was really afraid to come here to be honest. Last year people didnt really like me because I was screaming like crazy on the court. I think Im a little bit quieter now, Sabalenka said after her match.

Working with former ATP Professional Dmitry Tursunov as her coach, Sabalenka has been working on her game, making the most of her strength and overpowering her opponents.

Kind of like a painter, they have their own signature style, so shes starting to have a little bit more of that, explains Tursunov. Shes starting to understand how she can use her strengths and cover up her weaknesses.

Its a process, but shes willing to go through that process because her end goals are very clear and theyre pretty high. She understands this is just the beginning of the way to get to the top. Speaking about her plans, Sabalenka kept it simple, she is gunning or Grand Slams and wants them fast. It sounds crazy, but we all want to do that, she said.

Speaking about her relationship with Tursunov, she expressed, Im so passionate about tennis, so everything Dmitry tells me, Im always listening to him, even if it looks like Im not. Nobody really believed in me in Belarus, except like my sponsor, I think the president [of the federation] and a few coaches.

Mostly they didnt believe in me, which was really good motivation for me to listen, have all the information, to think about that and try to absorb all this information quickly.