New WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka made a heart-warming gesture towards a fan by gifting her the broken tennis rackets she broke backstage in the aftermath of her US Open final defeat.
Sabalenka came out second best in Sunday's final where she lost 19-year-old American Coco Gauff in three sets. After the match, Sabalenka was captured by locker room cameras smashing her racket on the floor in frustration before she dumped it in the garbage bin.
The video circulated online and attracted a barrage of criticism with many people pointing out that the footage should not have been released. But there was a twist to the tale when it emerged that the incident was allegedly staged, as a second video emanated to show a wider view of the incident of a camera crew at the far end.
It prompted speculation that the incident was videotaped as part of the second season of the tennis docuseries BreakPoint on Netflix. Sabalenka is reported to have retrieved the broken racket with the help of her team and gifted it to a fan backstage as can be seen below. Sabalenka also took to Instagram to bid farewell to New York City for another year.
"It was a great time here in New York and thanks a lot to InterContinental New York Times Square who made my stay very nice and made me feel welcome.— Sabalenka posted on her official Instagram account
"Just wanna drop a thankful message for all the support I am getting right now from all of ya!!! I really appreciate it! Thank you."
Despite the disappointment of losing a Grand Slam final for the first time, Sabalenka is celebrating her first week at the top of the world rankings after dethroning Iga Swiatek. Having secured her place for the season-ending WTA Finals, the Belarusian is expected to return to action at the China Open in Beijing in late September.
Sabalenka smashing her racket after yesterday’s final loss to Coco Gauff in private (respect for doing it for the joy of it). Sabalenka asking her team to retrieve the racket she smashed privately.. so that her fan who wanted them could have them. #USOpen
