WATCH: Sabalenka Angry With Opponent After Berlin Match Controversially Suspended

Aryna Sabalenka could not hide her disdain for opponent Rebeka Masarova after the Swiss influenced the Berlin Open's decision to suspend the rest of their match until Thursday.

Sabalenka's round of 16 contest with Masarova was her first since losing the 2025 Roland Garros final to Coco Gauff despite winning the opening set. She found the loss hard to take and made controversial comments about Gauff afterward.

To the WTA world No. 1's credit, she made a heartfelt apology for those remarks and revealed she reached out to Gauff personally. That might have made it easier for her to move on from the incident and concentrate on the grass-court swing.

Sabalenka is usually the most dominant women's player worldwide in the opening rounds of tournaments. She showed that ruthlessness again by swiftly winning the opening set 6-2.

Despite how quickly Sabalenka took the first set, the match was running late, primarily because of a very long battle between Jessica Pegula and Liudmila Samsonova that preceded Sabalenka stepping onto the court.

Although there is music playing in the background, the gist of the conversation between Sabalenka, Masarova, and the supervisor that led to the match's suspension can be heard in the video below.

Masarova expressed concern about how slippery the courts were and clearly did not want to continue playing. If the courts are not managed properly, grass can become more difficult to play on in the evening.

However, there was no rain throughout the day, and players had not mentioned any issues with the Berlin courts in previous iterations. That meant it was surprising when Masarova raised concerns about the court and wanted to stop playing.

Sabalenka did not buy her opponent's words. She became agitated when the supervisor mentioned that Masarova was worried about the side of the court Sabalenka had just played two games on without any issues.

The three-time Grand Slam champion then became more blunt and told the supervisor that Masarova was only complaining about the court because losing the first set so comprehensively made her want to stop playing.

Sabalenka further solidified her unhappiness by giving Masarova a sarcastic thumbs up before packing her bags. It would be interesting to know whether the world No. 1 exchanged words with the Swiss in the locker room.

The supervisor also told Sabalenka there was no point in playing any more because the match would definitely not be finished before it became too dark. He made those comments at around 8:30 p.m. local time.

Yet Tennis Channel's commentator Nick Lester stated that it would not get dark in Berlin until around 9:30 p.m. If Lester is right, and Sabalenka won the second set as easily as the first, the match could have been completed on Wednesday.

Sabalenka has had many fiery outbursts during her illustrious career. However, the six-time Grand Slam finalist's unhappiness with Masarova and the supervisor was understandable, even if making decisions about when to stop matches can be challenging.

Despite her frustration, Sabalenka will undoubtedly be confident of finishing the job tomorrow and setting up a quarterfinal against Elena Rybakina or Katerina Siniakova.