Leading The Charge

At the end of the day, sports are an entertainment business. That means, while wins and losses and how you produce on your field of play matter, being able to resonate with the public is as important as trophies.

This is why talking heads often refer to some players being the face of leagues, whether it’s Lebron James in the NBA or Patrick Mahomes in the NFL, being able to market certain individuals is imperative to the growth and popularity of a particular sport.

And since Serena Williams retired in 2022, women’s tennis has been searching for the face of the tour. It may just have found it in Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one who has three major titles on her resume already, and is eager to add more.

“Every time I see my name on that trophy, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going,” Sabalenka said after winning her latest Grand Slam title at the 2024 U.S. Open. “I have this opportunity in life, and it really means a lot. It’s always been my dream. I still kind of cannot believe that I was able to achieve [this], and me and my team have been able to achieve so much already.”

Sabalenka currently has a stranglehold on the top banking in the world, sitting thousands of points ahead of number two Iga Swiatek, and has a strong presence off the court as well, which makes her the type of personality to carry the sport forward.

That personality was on full display ahead of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells earlier this year. When she was shown a video of a young fan, 12-year-old Naysia Wilson, reading a letter she wrote expressing her admiration for Sabalenka. And it wasn’t just about her on-court dominance, but also as a role model she could look up to. She talked about Sabalenka’s kindness, sense of humor and courage.

Wilson even referenced a match of Sabelnka’s from the previous season that she attended and was shouting, ‘Let’s Go Aryna!”, cheering on her idol. Seeing the video made Sabalenka emotional.

“It’s the best thing to see, you know?” Sabalenka said. “Being an inspiration for the next generation, that’s the best. That’s the real goal in life and thank you for being inspired by me. It means a lot.”

She has more than 783,000 followers on TikTok, and just shy of three million followers on Instagram, which provides her with a massive worldwide influence. On TikTok, she posts many videos she titles Day in the Life, which gives her fans and followers insights on her day-to-day comings and goings.

And while oftentimes videos on TikTok can just be for fun and have a comedic sense to them, there is no doubt that through these videos and posts, her fans can feel a connection to her.

It’s a great contrast for her to show her more affectionate and likeable side of her personality, because on the court she is as fierce as they come. She is perhaps the biggest hitter on tour with a powerful serve as well asheavy groundstrokes, and carries with her a fiery attitude in her matches, but it’s her bubbly persona off the court that has endeared her to the next generation of tennis fans.

It’s the combination of on-court success and off-court likeability that is imperative for any athlete to transcend their respective sport, and is key in landing endorsement deals that showcase you to an audience that may not necessarily be followers of your sport.

Sabalenka had been under the IMG sports marketing agency for many years before splitting with them at the beginning of this year. She then joined Evolve, a smaller agency co-founded by her peer Naomi Osaka, taking control of her own brand.

“I was looking to build my brand, [and] wanted a little bit more than IMG was doing for me. I wasn’t happy with the service,” she said in a news conference at the Australian Open. “There was tension between me and some of the people out there.”

Her endorsements are continuing to grow; she has had her own Nike commercial in addition to deals with Wilson, tech wearable Whoop, the tequila brand Dobel, luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet and Oakberry, an acai franchise run by her partner, Georgios Franguils.

In an interview with The Athletic, Tim Crow, the former head of Synergy, a sports marketing agency, explained the importance of the social media aspect of it all when growing a brand and inking deals with companies, which has helped elevate Sabalenka:

“To modern-day sponsors, particularly newer brands, the amount of social media traction you have, the number of followers you have, all that kind of thing is massively important because it’s where they’re putting most of their marketing dollars.”

Being the face of a sport is not only dependent on wins and losses, and requires characteristics that go beyond results. While winning and being at the top of the sport is required, it takes more than that to capture a wider audience, and in the case of tennis, an international one. Aryna Sabalenka is the perfect combination of these factors, with three major wins already, a massive social media presence and just an overall likeability that has helped elevate her.

Her goal is to continue to rack up trophies and be an inspiration for the next generation. She has embraced her position as someone that others look up to and being the face of the sport, and she knows that her main focus will remain on how she performs on the court.

“I think I am where I’m supposed to be, and I’m super happy to see myself in this position because I worked really hard to get where I am right now. It’s not pressure for me. It’s really enjoyable to be in this position,” she said. “Let’s say that being an athlete, it’s already a lot of pressure. I’m focusing on myself, not on, like, the pressure moments. I think if you are willing to focus on yourself and focus on improving yourself, there is no such thing as pressure.”