Aryna Sabalenka has taken to social media to explain the comments she made in the aftermath of her French Open final defeat against Coco Gauff on Saturday afternoon. Sabalenka, who has now lost two consecutive Grand Slam finals, was labelled “rude” by tennis icon Rennae Stubbs for her reaction to Gauff’s victory.
Sabalenka was beaten 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 4-6 by the American, with the world No.1 having been far from her best throughout the match. However, instead of fronting up to the defeat, Sabalenka downplayed Gauff’s achievements, insisting she lost the match, as opposed to her opponent winning it.
Having allowed the dust to settle overnight, Sabalenka posted a short statement on Instagram attempting to clarify her comments. She said: “Yesterday was a tough one. Coco handled the conditions much better than I did and fully deserved the win. She was the better player yesterday, and I want to give her the credit she earned.
“You all know me… I’m always going to be honest and human in how I process these moments. I made over 70 unforced errors, so I can’t pretend it was a great day for me. But both things can be true… I didn’t play my best, and Coco stepped up and played with poise and purpose. She earned that title. Respect. Time to rest, learn, and come back stronger.”
It came after Sabalenka was slammed for her words, with Stubbs posting on X: “Ugh….the tennis was not that bad. You made a bazillion unforced errors because youre playing against the fastest players in the world who is as gutsy as hell and had better composure then u!! But to say it was horrible…..ugh!!!! Damn that was rude. I said what I said.”
Sabalenka also made a sour claim that if Iga Swiatek had beaten her in the semi-final, she would’ve beaten eventual champion Gauff in the final. A suggestion Guaff understandably disagreed with as she issued a ruthless message that she was the one “sitting here with the trophy”.
The now two-time Grand Slam champion said: “I mean, I don’t agree with that. I’m here sitting here [with the trophy]. Last time I played – no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets [in Madrid].
“I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can happen. The way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win the title. If you asked me, honestly, who I wanted to play, it was Iga just because I felt Aryna was playing so good, and she was. But regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win. I definitely had that belief.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk