After a gut-wrenching loss at the finals in Melbourne that only follows suit with some unexpected upsets later in the year, any player would have been shaken. However, that isn’t the case for our ever-smiling Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian has made sure to chip these losses off her shoulders and embrace life as it comes and that has been possible because of her coach Jason Stacy. So it isn’t a surprise that when the “beautiful man”, who is an integral part of her backbone, has his special day, Sabalenka goes all out to wish him.
Sabalenka is not one for secrets, and she literally wears her heart on her sleeve (that, and the incredibly cool tiger tattoo, yes). So, naturally, she didn’t hold back when it happened to be the 56th birthday of her performance coach and mentor Jason Stacy! Yes, the same man who handheld her through three Grand Slam victories and some of the most challenging phases of her life.
Sabalenka took to her Instagram stories a couple of hours ago to wish Stacy a very happy birthday. The picture she chose for the post was uproarious. Stacy is seen donning a foam net on his head while sassily staring at the camera with a hilarious expression and finger guns! “Happy Birthday to this beautiful man”, Sabalenka wrote to caption the picture.
Jason Stacy boasts a remarkably diverse C.V., blending martial arts with 25 years of experience in massage therapy, sports therapy, and strength and conditioning. He’s worked with a wide range of athletes, from soccer players and Olympic hopefuls to swimmers and ballroom dancers, across the globe. “I’ve helped athletes get to world No.1 or become world champion in four sports now. Two different martial arts – jiu-jitsu, judo, then swimming and tennis,” proudly mentioned once.
Stacy joined Sabalenka’s team in 2018 and the two have encountered a dream run ever since. Stacy has channeled Sabalenka’s grit to the world’s no. 1 position and now she is the dream girl for the WTA. Not just that, the duo has that one tradition that is turning out to the winning formula for the Belarusian star.
Aryna Sabalenka and Jason Stacy’s, that one tradition before matches
“The man behind team Sabalenka”, as they call him, has often been known to show his fun, upbeat and childlike personality when it comes to his off-court shenanigans with the Belarusian herself. One tradition that the duo heartily follows is Sabalenka signing on Stacy’s head at the beginning of all her matches. This tradition saw the Belarusian WTA icon through to her current world no. 1 ranking and three Grand Slams.
The tradition started as a fun quirk between the coach-player team at the beginning of the Australian Open 2024, where Sabalenka flexed a dream run that stopped short of nothing but her first Grand Slam. When asked about her traditions, Sabalenka said, “We just like to do weird sh*t guys!” The fun didn’t just stop there.
The coach went a step ahead this 2025 Australian Open when he was spotted in Saba’s box with a tiger tattoo on his head- similar to the one on Saba’s arm. It was a temporary tattoo, albeit, but it was a sweet yet edgy way for Stacy to show his support for the Belarusian. How would you wish Stacy on his birthday, though?
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