Aryna Sabalenka is spending her first day as the No.1 WTA player, but this career milestone is a bittersweet moment for the Belarusian who lost the US Open final on Saturday. During the trophy ceremony, her emotions were overwhelming and she broke into tears, but her true frustration came out afterwards.
Playing her second major singles championship match, Sabalenka won the first set 6-2, but eventually lost to Coco Gauff, failing to accompany her No.1 ranking debut with a Grand Slam title. As she accepted the runner-up trophy, the 25-year-old struggled to hold back her tears. When asked about her family back home, she couldn’t help but let her emotions overflow. She mentioned feeling like she had let them down and said: “Sorry for this result.”
@eurosport_france Battue par Coco Gauff en finale de l’US Open (2-6, 6-3, 6-2), Aryna Sabalenka a évacué sa frustration… en s’en prenant à sa raquette #sportstiktok #USOpen #arynasabalenka #tennistiktok ♬ son original – Eurosport France
The real drama unfolded shortly thereafter. Upon entering the building, Sabalenka placed her tennis bag on the ground, setting her runner-up trophy atop it. Then she took out her Wilson racquet, looked at it for a moment, and then, with a burst of frustration, she struck it against the floor before discarding it into the trash.
@eurosportpl Aryna Sabalenka wyładowała nerwy po finale US Open na rakiecie #USOpen #tennis #Sabalenka ♬ oryginalny dźwięk – Eurosport Polska – Eurosport Polska
Actually, she did it to more than one racquet, as there are two separate videos of her backstage outbursts, posted by Eurosport France and Eurosport Poland.
I think this is really poor whenever they do it. A tennis racquet is a valuable thing to ordinary people and trashing them like this is really insulting to people who might have to save up to buy them. For goodness sake she is number one in the world and has millions of dollars. Her life is hardly a disaster. If she wants to feel better maybe give her racquets away to someone who needs them. Or go somewhere that people are really suffering and see what that is like – Ukraine for example.
CLT, good point, and the Ukraine quip is poignant.
I would add that Sabalenka is hardly alone in smashing racquets, almost every top player has done so at some time, just a few exceptions. And other than her loud shrieking, she seems to be a kind, modest, and respectful person.