Aryna Sabalenka likes being “two different people" on and off court: “It’s actually good!”

Laser-focused Aryna Sabalenka didn’t drop a set on her way to a second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Saturday—but there was a time when her champion mentality used to let her down at the crucial moments.

After the defending champ routed No. 12 seed Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2 in the final, Sabalenka let out all her emotions in a joyful post-match celebration with her team. Her clinical performances are a testament to how much they’ve worked on the mercurial Belarusian’s mental and tactical game in the last two years—and after the final, she credited her turnaround on “experience” and growing emotional maturity.

“There is not going to be big wins without really tough losses. Of course I was very down after those matches. I was crying, I was smashing the racquet, as we see. I was really crazy,” she otherwise bubbly Sabalenka recalled in her post-match press conference.

“Later on after a day or two, we sit down with the team, thinking, okay, what we have to do to fix it and to make sure this will never happen again.”

WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka on the journey to "becoming who I am on court" | 2024 Australian Open Press Conference

The 25-year-old called the mental work a “process”, as she opened up about the “long journey” to reach that emotional stability:

Q: Your on-court and off-court persona seem quite different. Off court we know the person you are; on court you're quite the scary opponent. Do you have to spend a little bit of time becoming on-court Aryna?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, it's actually good that I'm two different people on and off the court! Because if I would be the same person that I'm on the court, off the court, I think I wouldn't have my team around me, and I think I would be alone (smiling).

But yeah, it takes me so much time to kind of become who I am right now on court, to have this control myself, and to understand myself better.

It's been a long journey and way to go. I just said it, like, I'm going to retire after today. (Laughter.) But, no, too early, I think. Can still do something else.

But, yeah, it takes me a little while to become who I am right now.

For Sabalenka, the Aussie Swing serves as the perfect snapshot to showcase how far she’s come over the years: It was here at the start of the 2022 season when her service woes first manifested in double-digit double faults and rolled-in second serves.

Her famous on-court emotional swings caused the issue to be diagnosed as a mental block, prompting Sabalenka to hire mental coaches and specialists to work on it—to no avail. After later dismissing her psychologist, she took matters into her own hands and chose to work  with a biomechanics expert instead to rebuild her serve from the ground up. Last year, she finally started reaping the rewards as she powered her way to her first Australian Open title, the US Open final and the WTA world No. 1 ranking.

Now, the 25-year-old says she’s focused on staying at the top and continuing to add to her Grand Slam trophy cabinet: She didn’t want to “disappear” after her first major title and be remembered as a one-hit wonder.

“I just wanted to show that I'm able to be consistently there and I'm able to win another one,” Sabalenka explained. “I really hope (for) more, more than two right now, but for me it was really important.

“That's why, no matter what the result, win or lose, we are always working hard. We always looking for things to improve in my game.”