Aryna Sabalenka brings back wacky 'tradition' at French Open that coach 'isn't happy with'

Aryna Sabalenka says she is bringing back a strange “tradition” involving one of her coaches at the French Open.

The world No. 2 won the Australian Open in January after signing her fitness trainer’s head before every match and said she would continue the ritual for the rest of the year, even though he wasn’t “happy with it”.

And she stuck to her word, doing the same before she beat Erika Andreeva in her opening match in Paris.

Sabalenka needed just 68 minutes to defeat the world No. 100 6-1 6-2. And there may be an explanation for her dominant win - her wacky superstition involving her fitness coach Jason Stacy.

After her ritual of signing his head with a marker coincidentally saw her retain her Australian Open crown, the 26-year-old is hoping that it can have the same effect and carry her to the title at the French Open.

“We just keep the traditions going, you know. Like I did sign his head today,” she laughed. “Let's see if it's working or not. Hopefully that's the key, you know, but we're going to keep tradition.”

When Sabalenka won the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, she rushed to her box and signed Stacy’s head. With the trophy by her side, she later said: “I don’t know why but I started to do it before my first match. He is not happy with that. I think we are going to do it for the year now.”

While Stacy may not be happy that the tradition has returned, he can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s just a marker and not a tattoo after joking that he could have his head permanently inked after the Aussie Open.

“It's just been the thing for the tournament. Our first day here, some kid wanted a ball signed. She said: ‘Ah, no problem.’ So she signed my head as a joke. Then every day it's like a routine to sign my head,” the Australian performance coach explained earlier this year.