[[{“value”:”
Aryna Sabalenka credits her new puppy, Ash, with providing “mental health support” as she continues to rack up victories and maintain her standing as the top-ranked player in women`s tennis.
Sabalenka brought her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel following her round-of-16 victory over Naomi Osaka on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
“I feel like I`m much more settled, calm, more in control,” Sabalenka, who has a history of emotional, on-court outbursts, said while Tennis Channel commentators held and petted her dog. “Whenever I feel like going crazy on my team, I just pet Ash and I feel better.”
Sabalenka, who also recently announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis, shared news of her puppy in a social media post last week, introducing Ash as a “new addition” to Team Tiger, her support team of coaches, trainers and other staff.
She spoke more about Ash following her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Osaka.
Sabalenka said she had a deal with coach Anton Dubrov that if she won last year`s U.S. Open, she would get a dog.
She also considered getting a Dachshund, but decided on a spaniel because “my mom had a spaniel and I loved that dog,” adding that spaniels make good “family dogs.”
“Super attached to their owners, super chill, super cute, supper cuddly,” she said.
Sabalenka said she wanted her dog`s name to be related somehow to New York and the U.S. Open.
“Apple doesn`t sound right,” she said. So, she went with Ash as a nod to American tennis great and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe, after whom the main U.S. Open stadium court is named.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
“}]]
