Aryna Sabalenka has admitted she “completely lost it” in the aftermath of her defeat by Coco Gauff in the final of the French Open. Gauff came from behind to triumph 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 in Paris earlier in June and claim the Grand Slam title in style after Sabalenka imploded.
There appeared to be some animosity between the pair in the most-match media duties, with Sabalenka seemingly dismissing her opponent’s good play as the reason for her defeat. She spoke about her own “terrible tennis” and claimed that if Iga Swiatek would’ve beaten Gauff, if she had reached the final instead of herself.
Gauff responded bluntly, firing back bluntly: “I mean, I don’t agree with that” before adding: “I’m here sitting here.”
Sabalenka later posted on social media to try and quell the backlash against her and give Gauff plenty of credit. And speaking ahead of her appearance at Wimbledon, the world No.1 again played down the row as a storm in a teacup.
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“We’ve always been really good with Coco,” Sabalenka said. “Honestly, as I said in the statement and I messaged to her, I didn’t really want to offend her. I was just completely, like, upset with myself, and emotions got over me. I just completely lost it.
“I wanted to say it in person to her, but I wasn’t sure if she’s going to come to Berlin, so I had to message her to apologize and make sure she understand it. I didn’t want to offend.
“Of course, she got my respect. She knew it. She knows it. I’m happy that she was, like, ‘Yeah, it’s all good, don’t worry’. Yeah, as you saw the video, I was talking, we are good, we are friends. I hope the U.S. media can be easy on me right now.”
Gauff is seeded No.2 at Wimbledon behind the Belarusian and is content with their relationship going forward. “Yeah, I mean, obviously some people were critiquing what she said in the speech,” Gauff said. “I didn’t really care about any of that, because I know how it feels. I understand what she was trying to say.