Aryna Sabalenka Explains Her Side Of Beef With Umpire After Incident In Stuttgart

Aryna Sabalenka reached the semi-finals at the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but it wasn't a smooth sailing for her, and it included a disagreement with the chair umpire.

Sabalenka had to wait for her first match at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart. After Anastasia Potapova withdrew from their second-round match, the WTA World No. 1 knew she wouldn't play her first match in Stuttgart this year until Saturday.

Once she finally stepped onto the court, Sabalenka played really well. Her opponent was Elise Mertens, whom she knows very well. It was their 11th meeting, and the two used to play doubles together in the past, having won two majors as a team.

This time, they were standing on opposite sides of the net, and it was the Belarusian player who was more successful. Sabalenka won the match 6-4, 6-1, reaching the semi-finals in Stuttgart. Her next opponent will be the winner of the match between Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini.

But even though Sabalenka won the match easily, there was a moment during the match that didn't make her happy, and it apparently didn't make the umpire of the match, Miriam Bley, happy either.

The top seed wasn't happy about one of the calls, which is why she asked the chair umpire to check the mark of a ball that she thought was incorrectly called. After failing to agree, the Belarusian chose to take a picture of the mark in question.

After the match ended, Sabalenka shook hands with her opponent as well as the umpire, but this time, she felt that the handshake with the umpire was different.

After the match, the WTA World No. 1 player was asked about the incident, saying that she felt like the umpire shook her hand more firmly than before, probably showing her disagreement with Sabalenka's decision to take a picture of the ball mark in question.

Sabalenka was then asked by the interviewer if she "squeezed back" during the handshake, but the Belarusian player said she didn't want to "play this game" with the umpire.