The start of 2022 saw her exit the pre-major Adelaide International event at the hands of a qualifier, her serve so poor she was left in tears and rolling them in underarm as her double fault tally hit 21.

Fast forward a year and she is our women's Australian Open Champion!

But how did she get here from there?

Well...

She first had to endure serving 428 double faults throughout 2022....151 more than any other player on the WTA Tour.

All the while demonstrating incredible resilience, determination, and bravery to improve her yips, which is in my experience one of the biggest challenges any player can face in tennis.

You see, when a player has the yips, the fear to face them is immense. But that is exactly what Sabalenka decided to do...

Her fitness coach Jason Stacy described her efforts as one of the most inspiring things he's experienced:

"Her commitment to fixing her problems was incredible. The experience of facing the fear, instead of trying to avoid it or go around it. She went right though it, hit it face on."

And her coach Anton Dubrov added:

"She could be out there (last year) serving 25 double faults but she would still be in the 3rd set fighting. And in the end what happened last year was a big positive. She understands that she is tough, and that she can compete no matter what's happened."

So when she started the final against Rybakina with a couple of double faults in the first game to lose serve...

And when she lost the first set and went down 15-40 on her first service game of the second set...

And when she faced the ultimate challenge of double faulting on her first match point...

She new that although her second serve under the highest pressure was still vulnerable. She was BRAVE enough to step back up to the line and keep competing. And she knew that the work she had done meant it might just be good enough.

And her reward is becoming a Grand Slam champion.

And the lesson for us all...

Tennis does not require perfection...far from it. But it does require incredible bravery, and this is something Sabalenka has demonstrated at an incredible level.

Well Done!