'I Got What I Deserved': Sabalenka Asks US Media For Mercy After Gauff Controversy

Sunday, 29 June 2025 at 03:00

byErik Virostko

Aryna Sabalenka is one of the most exciting players on the WTA Tour, but she has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently.

Sabalenka is the current World No. 1 player on the WTA Tour, and she is also one of the most exciting personalities. The Belarusian is one of the players who never hides their emotions, on or off the court.

The 27-year-old shows her energy, happiness, frustration, sadness, and any kind of emotion she feels on the court, but after the 2025 Roland Garros final, the emotion of losing the match was present with her in the press conference room.

Sabalenka spoke about her final opponent, Coco Gauff, and the comments she made were seen as disrespectful. As a result of her actions, the three-time Grand Slam champion has faced plenty of backlash.

Since then, Sabalenka has already apologized for her words, and she has even recorded a TikTok with Gauff. The American player didn't want her rival to face any hate from her fans, which is why she wanted to show them that they are on good terms.

After their joint TikTok video, Sabalenka was asked about her relationship with Gauff during her press conference ahead of this year's Wimbledon Championships.

Sabalenka explained that she has always had a good relationship with Gauff, and that she apologized to her through a text message, as she wasn't sure whether the American would appear at the Berlin Open after winning at Roland Garros.

"Well, we've always been really good with Coco. Honestly, as I said in my statement and in my message to her, I didn't want to offend her. I was just completely upset with myself, and emotions got over me, and I just completely lost it."

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"I wanted to say it in person to her, but I wasn't sure if she was coming to Berlin, so I messaged her to apologize and make sure she understood that I didn't mean to offend her."

Sabalenka was happy to hear that Gauff wasn't offended by her comments. The 21-year-old American understood the situation, and now, Sabalenka wants the American media to understand her side of the story as well.

"And of course, she has my respect, she knew it, she knows it. I'm happy that she was like, 'all good, don't worry.' And yeah, as you saw in the video, we were good, we were friends. So, I hope the US media can be easy on me right now."

The World No. 1 thinks that she deserved the initial backlash, and she also explained that it helped her to learn her lesson. She now knows to avoid similar comments after losses.

"I did what I did, and I got what I deserved, I believe. It was a tough time for me. I'm glad I had a book in Mykonos so I could just get distracted by reading books, so yeah, I got back to reading. The lesson is learned, and definitely not going to happen again."