Details have emerged that Aryna Sabalenka's fury in the aftermath of the 2023 US Open final defeat was part of the tennis docuseries Break Point.
Sabalenka lost in Saturday's final to American teenager Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, preventing the double coronation for the Belarusian star, who ascended to the top of the world rankings for the first time this week.
After the match, footage shared by Eurosport on X (formerly Twitter) captured the moment Sabalenka took out her anger on a tennis racket inside the US Open Player Spaces in the locker room, smacking it multiple times on the concrete turf before throwing it in the trashcan.
The short clip shown on TV and circulating online generated widespread controversy, with the tournament coming under immense criticism for releasing what ought to have been a private moment for the beaten finalist.
Chief among those who vehemently condemned the release of the footage, was Judy Murray, the mother to three-time major winner Andy Murray, who posted on X, saying, 'This footage should never have been made public. A private moment in an empty training room after the disappointment of losing a Grand Slam final.'
But a few hours after that, a second video has since emerged with a wider angle of that raw moment, showing a camera crew, reportedly from Netflix, who were filming a segment of the tennis docuseries Break Point, which was renewed for a second season earlier this year.
It appears that Sabalenka was indeed following a script, as one commenter alleges, 'It’s not secret — there was a whole camera crew there.'
Another fan added that the gym area in the Players Space which Sabalenka was in, was part of the broadcast camera during the event, and also confirmed that the Netflix crew were behind the cameras.
Many fans felt that incident felt too good to be true and that overzealous reaction looked staged right from the beginning when details of the footage emerged, with one fan saying, 'Most people don't believe that 45 minutes after a match, you just unzip your bag, take a racket, and smash it in frustration. It was performative for Netflix. Sabalenka is a huge phony.'
Sabalenka is known for exuberance and a fiery attitude on the court but hardly breaks rackets on a tennis court. So it took one commenter by surprise that Sabalenka would step out of line, questioning her motive, 'In fact, I have watched Sabalenka play probably 100+ times and cannot think of many, if any, times I've seen her break a racket on the court. Tossed it many times. Smashed balls, don't remember racket breaking. Netflix producers prompted her to do so?'
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