On Thursday, Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic engaged in a friendly banter with Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas during their Australian Open mixed doubles charity match at the Rod Laver Arena. As the Serb got ready to serve, the Belarusian made fun of her, and they ended up having a very funny conversation.
For Sabalenka to make the proper play on her serve, Djokovic asked her to pay close attention to his hand movements as he stood at the net. But the 25-year-old was unable to make out what Djokovic was attempting to convey with his hands.
After that, Sabalenka assumed her serving stance, but her partner interrupted her by wriggling his butt at the net. The whole Rod Laver audience fell breathless as she insisted that she had been treated to an amazing view.
Although she made a joke that made Djokovic feel ashamed, he appeared to like the way the crowd responded. From the other side of the court, Sakkari intervened as well, saying that Sabalenka’s boyfriend would take offence at the exchange.
Djokovic said as he gestured with his fingers at the net: “I’m going to show you a couple of signals, you know?”
Sabalenka replied: “Can people help me understand what he’s showing? Wow, what a beautiful view I have!”
Sakkari hilariously said to Sabalenka: “I’m sure your boyfriend won’t be happy with that.”
Sabalenka replied: “I hope he’s not going to watch it!”
Maria Sakkari in 2024
Ranked world no.8, Maria played her last match on the 5th of January when she overcame world no.657 Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-3
in the quarter in Australia (draw).This year Sakkari has managed to achieve an overall 3-0 win-loss record.
Aryna Sabalenka in 2024
Now ranked no.2, Aryna played her last match on the 7th of January when she capitulated to world no.3 Elena Rybakina 6-0 6-3 in the final in Brisbane (draw).
This season Sabalenka has achieved a compiled 4-1 win-loss record. Aryna Sabalenka’s latest run in Brisbane was the best achievement of her season.
Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka fought against each other 10 times. Their head to head is 7-3 for Sabalenka. Previously, the last time they played each other, Aryna Sabalenka won 6-0 6-1 in the round robin in Cancun (WTA Finals) in October 2023.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.