INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka credits her new puppy, Ash, with providing “mental health support” as she continues to rack up victories and maintain her standing as the top-ranked player in women's tennis.
Sabalenka brought her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to a post-match interview on the Tennis Channel following her round-of-16 victory over Naomi Osaka on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
“I feel like I’m much more settled, calm, more in control,” Sabalenka, who has a history of emotional, on-court outbursts, said while Tennis Channel commentators held and petted her dog. “Whenever I feel like going crazy on my team, I just pet Ash and I feel better.”
Sabalenka, who also recently announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis, shared news of her puppy in a social media post last week, introducing Ash as a “new addition” to Team Tiger, her support team of coaches, trainers and other staff.
She spoke more about Ash following her 6-2, 6-4 victory over Osaka.
Sabalenka said she had a deal with coach Anton Dubrov that if she won last year's U.S. Open, she would get a dog.
She also considered getting a Dachshund, but decided on a spaniel because “my mom had a spaniel and I loved that dog,” adding that spaniels make good “family dogs.”
“Super attached to their owners, super chill, super cute, supper cuddly,” she said.
Sabalenka said she wanted her dog's name to be related somehow to New York and the U.S. Open.
“Apple doesn’t sound right,” she said. So, she went with Ash as a nod to American tennis great and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe, after whom the main U.S. Open stadium court is named.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
FILE -Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during a press conference following her loss to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the women's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila), File)
FILE - Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates after winning the semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
For Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, it was perhaps the most humiliating Champions League debut of all time.
Two miskicks. Three goals conceded. And substituted inside 17 minutes.
No wonder the 22-year-old Czech player looked inconsolable as he walked down the tunnel at Metropolitano Stadium, with two teammates catching him up to offer their sympathies.
Handed his first start since October and only his third appearance all season, Kinsky endured a nightmarish start to the round-of-16 match at Atletico Madrid, who wound up winning 5-2 on Tuesday.
To begin with, he slipped and botched a clearance in the sixth minute, the ball going straight to an Atletico player and — two passes later — leading to Marcos Llorente slotting past Kinsky to open the scoring.
Then, moments after Antoine Griezmann made it 2-0 for Atletico, Kinsky attempted a first-time pass out of his area with his left foot but miskicked again. The ball dribbled into the path of Julian Alvarez, who had the simple task of slotting the ball into an empty net.
Tottenham was 3-0 down after 15 minutes and Kinsky lay face down, with his hands covering his face. He got up but stayed knelt down, one arm across his knee.
It wasn’t long before he was pulled by Igor Tudor, the under-pressure Tottenham interim manager whose bold call to leave out first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had spectacularly backfired.
Kinsky shook his head as he walked off the field — to some applause by sympathetic Atletico fans — to be replaced by Vicario and headed directly to the tunnel. One teammate was seen with his arm around the shoulder of Kinsky as they walked to the locker room.
Kinsky was signed by Tottenham from Slavia Prague in January last year amid an injury crisis in the goalkeeper department.
He was hailed as a goalkeeper for the future, and regarded as especially good with his feet.
Kinsky made 10 appearances for Tottenham last season, giving up his starting spot when Vicario recovered in February from a broken ankle.
His only two previous appearances this season have come in the English League Cup, making it a huge decision by Tudor to call up Kinsky for Tottenham's biggest game of the campaign so far.
Kinsky clearly wasn't ready for such a big occasion and Tudor will have questions to answer.
Vicario had put in some shaky recent performances, having conceded two or more goals in each of Tottenham's last nine Premier League games — none of which the team had won. In fact, Tottenham is on a club-record winless run of 11 matches in the Premier League, losing its last five as it battles relegation.
The Italian's kicking and distribution has been particularly scrutinized, most recently in the 3-1 home loss to Crystal Palace last week.
Tudor chose to take Vicario out of the firing line — but that didn't last long.
This sixth straight loss in all competitions marked the latest humiliation for Tottenham, which is just one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League with nine games left.
Spurs came into the match at Atletico with just two wins in 14 matches in all competitions in 2026 — and both of those were in the Champions League.
Tottenham has been an ever-present in the Premier League since the competition was founded in 1992, and last played in the second tier in the 1977-78 season.
The Champions League has proved to be a welcome distraction for Tottenham from its domestic woes — until Tuesday, anyway. The team finished fourth in the league stage, behind only Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool, after winning five of its eight games.
Tudor replaced the fired Thomas Frank last month but has lost all four of his games in charge.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Tottenham's head coach Igor Tudor looks out from the bench prior to the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Tottenham in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Tottenham's goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky leaves the field after substitution during the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Tottenham in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Tottenham's goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, left, shakes hands with Tottenham's goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after substitution during the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Tottenham in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
