Aryna Sabalenka drops cheeky hint to partner after retaining Brisbane International crown

Aryna Sabalenka has dropped a humorous hint to her partner about their future together after she retained her women's singles title at the Brisbane International on Sunday.

Sabalenka snatched her 22nd career title and third trophy at the Brisbane tournament after defeating Marta Kostyuk in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

But it was her post-match speech that had the fans in laughter at Pat Rafter Arena, while her partner just looked on in shock.

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Shortly after Kostyuk had collected her runners-up trophy and jokingly apologised to her team for losing another final, Sabalenka took to the microphone to offer her thanks.

The world No.1 first congratulated her opponent before admitting that she is hopeful to meet Kostyuk in the finals again in the near future.

"I want to congratulate Marta and her team on their start to the season," she said.

"I hope that we meet each other many more times in the finals.

The Aussie tennis summer kicks off with the 2026 United Cup from Friday, January 2. Watch it live and free on Nine and 9Now.

She then turned her attention to her team and gave a telling hint to her partner.

"Thank you to my team for handling me," Sabalenka continued.

"I am the toughest one to handle, and you guys are the toughest ones if you can handle me. Thank you, I love you.

"And thank you to my boyfriend. Hopefully, soon I can call you something else, right?" she said with a laugh.

"That is just [me] putting some extra pressure."

It was a light-hearted ending for Sabalenka's campaign in Brisbane, having appeared frustrated at times with her form while also shaking off the cobwebs for the new season.

Sabalenka cruised to an early 3-0 lead over her opponent in the opening 10 minutes, making the most of her space on the court.

But it did not take long for Kostyuk to settle into the groove, snatching the next two games to narrow the margin to Sabalenka to 3-2.

Trading game for game looked to be the tone for a short period in the first set, with a rare miss hit by Kostyuk leaving all watching on in awe, as she levelled the scores to 4-4.

The Ukrainian star fired a 176km/hr serve down the centre service line to Sabalenka before moving in close to the net, where she smashed a shot towards the same spot.

However, that shot seemingly had too much power behind it and looked to be heading straight out of the court, but it landed just inside and in front of Sabalenka's racquet.

Sabalenka's return of that ball landed outside the court, gifting Kostyuk the point, much to the surprise of both athletes.

"She gets away with it, but only just," Tom Rehn said on Nine, laughing.

"Well, you don't see that often on a tennis court," Australian great Jelena Dokic added.

"She completely miss hits that ... it's off the frame."

Rehn concluded: "That could've gone anywhere".

Sabalenka eventually won the first set 6-4 and dominated the start of the second set.

Kostyuk did manage to get two games on the scoreboard by the time the match hit the one-hour mark, but it was not enough to throw Sabalenka off her game.

"She is hanging in there, she is not giving up," Dokic said of Kostyuk.

In the end, Sabalenka claimed victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.