“I lost my father four years ago,” Aryna Sabalenka tells audiences in the 2023 tennis docuseries Break Point. “We had one dream: that before 25, I will win a couple of grand slams.”

Sabalenka made that dream a reality on Saturday as she clinched her second grand slam title at the Australian Open, defending the championship crown she won last year at the same tournament.

The 25-year-old Belarusian accomplished a crushing defeat of her opponent, China’s Zheng Qinwen, in just two consecutive sets.

In the moments after winning, Sabalenka raised her hands above her head and blew an air kiss to the sky, a moment many fans interpreted as a gesture of thanks and love to her late father, who died in 2019.

Sabalenka described her family as her “biggest motivation” at a post-awards ceremony press conference, and opened up about her relationship with her father, Sergey. Asked about how she felt returning to Melbourne to defend her title and fulfill the dream she shared with him, Sabalenka said, “I want to believe my father is watching me and very proud of me. So I just couldn’t stop, for my family.”

“I just feel that he’s always with me. I’m very thankful for everything he did for me, and if not for him I wouldn’t be here,” she said.