How Aryna Sabalenka Became the Most Compelling Player in Tennis

In July, Sabalenka, the world’s top-ranked women’s tennis player, lost to Naomi Osaka in their round-of-16 match at Wimbledon. It was her first straight-­set defeat at a major in nearly a half-dozen years. What’s more, it was her second surprise exit in a row from a Grand Slam tournament. So when she took her place before the assembled media at her postmatch press conference, she did not mince words: “I just want to go get completely drunk,” she said, “forget about tennis and try to get better, in better shape.”The comment created worldwide headlines, but now she is ready to set the record straight. “I had a couple of drinks,” Sabalenka tells TIME some three weeks after the loss. “I danced a little bit, I forgot about tennis for a couple days. But I never get drunk.”After the Wimbledon disappointment, Sabalenka, 28, took a vacation to Greece, posting her leisure activities on social media as she went. She has more followers across TikTok and Insta­gram, 7.2 million, than any other active women’s player (aside from Serena Williams, who returned to Wimbledon at 44 but injured her knee in a first-round loss) as well as a YouTube series chronicling her life called Aryna’s Arena. The se...