Sabalenka Explains Why She Didn't Smash Her Racket During Intense Raducanu Clash
NewsSunday, 06 July 2025 at 11:32
Aryna Sabalenka made a brutally honest admission when revealing why she did not smash her racket after missing seven set points against Emma Raducanu at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
Sabalenka and Raducanu's third-round match was one of the highest-quality women's contests so far at Wimbledon. The home favorite played some exceptional tennis to push the WTA world No. 1 hard.
Raducanu served to stay in the opening set at 4-5. Despite Sabalenka creating seven opportunities to close out the set, Raducanu, roared on by the Centre Court crowd, fended them all off before holding for 5-5.
Sabalenka then found herself in trouble when she was broken in the next game, falling 6-5 behind with a break, as she also did in her second-round match against Marie Bouzkova. She recovered to beat the Czech 7-6, 6-4.
The three-time Grand Slam winner repeated the trick against Raducanu. After breaking back, she hit an utterly sublime drop shot to save a set point in the tiebreak at 5-6, before winning the next two points to take the set 7-6.
Raducanu was also a break up in the second set, but Sabalenka played exceptionally in the last few games to triumph 7-6, 6-4 for a second consecutive match. The Belarusian did superbly to prevail in straight sets, considering how well Raducanu performed.
In her press conference afterward, a reporter mentioned that Sabalenka may have previously smashed her racket after missing so many set points. As always, the world No. 1 gave a candid reply.
"The fine is pretty crucial here, so no."
Players can be fined for smashing rackets at all tournaments, but it is particularly frowned upon at Wimbledon because of the damage it can cause to the grass. Alexander Zverev already damaged it in his opening-round loss against Arthur Rinderknech.
Sabalenka momentarily interrupted the reporter, who took quite a long time to ask his question, with the comment about the fine. The reporter eventually asked for Sabalenka's thought process during challenging moments.
This year's Australian Open and French Open runner-up accepted that earlier in her career, she might have lost focus and gone to pieces after missing those set points and being broken. Gaining more experience has stopped her from falling into that trap.
"I have enough experience, and, as you said, maybe earlier in my career, I would just lose it, go crazy, and lose that set 5-7. But with the years, with the experience, I learned that is not it. She is also under pressure and has to serve for the set when the balls were heavier."
The answer summarizes Sabalenka's improved mentality in recent years. Another statistic that shows it is the Belarusian winning her last 13 tiebreaks, proving how clutch she usually is during the most decisive moments.
Sabalenka usually gives great insights in her press conferences. After losing to the American in the Roland Garros final, she received much criticism for her words about Coco Gauff, but she followed that up by reaching out to Gauff privately and making a genuine and heartfelt apology.
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