There's an old saying that says, "Never meet your heroes." Not if your hero is Aryna Sabalenka.
The No. 2 seed defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-1 in Round 2 of the US Open on Wednesday, but it was a young girl dressed like her in the front row of Louis Armstrong Stadium that truly stole the show.
Sitting front row in the Open's second stadium, the girl was clad in the same fuchsia dress as Sabalenka, and even had a matching tiger "tattoo" drawn on her arm like the two-time Australian Open champion's signatue ink. (The youngest was even carrying a plushie of Sabalenka's favorite animal.)
After Sabalenka sealed victory, she picked the girl up and brought her on the court, snapped photos with her and signed an autograph on (what else?) her big pink tennis ball.
“It was really adorable moment,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I just looked up, and I saw on the big screen, like, mini me! It was so cute.
“That’s the first time I see someone dress up the same as me and having little tattoo and little tiger. How cute is that?”
One of the tour's most gregarious players, and generous with her time in interactions with fans, Sabalenka said that seeing youngsters, in particular, at her matches is something that warms her heart.
"It's such a motivation to keep going to inspire the young generation," she continued. "That's the main goal. Yeah, that was very adorable moment."
Will this familiar face be in the crowd when Sabalenka faces No. 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in Round 3?
