WIMBLEDON, England – The relationship between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka seems to have quickly re-established itself after this month’s French Open final.
Now, with Wimbledon about to begin, Gauff hopes that everyone else can also forget what the world number one, Sabalenka, said after her defeat to the American at Roland-Garros.
A day after dancing together on the Wimbledon center court in a TikTok video, the two tennis players faced more questions on Saturday about the consequences of Sabalenka’s comments right after the final, when she said that her defeat was due more to her own mistakes than to Gauff’s performance.
The Belarusian apologized to Gauff and called her comments “unprofessional”, but not before facing a negative reaction from fans and experts, especially in the United States.
Gauff, who begins her Wimbledon campaign against Dayana Yastremska on Tuesday, added: “I think people were getting carried away… They were just pointing and saying a lot of things that I felt weren’t nice. I didn’t want to fuel that anymore.” Sabalenka, who faces Carson Branstine on Court No. 1 on Monday, said she hopes the TikTok video will show that everything is okay between the two.I am not the person who will fuel hatred in the world.
Coco Gauff
The three-time Grand Slam winner added: “I hope the American media can be easier on me right now.” Sabalenka reiterated that she never intended to offend Gauff.We are fine, we are friends.
Aryna Sabalenka
Gauff acknowledged that she was initially tempted to respond publicly to Sabalenka, who said that the American “won the match not because she played incredibly; only because I made all those mistakes… of easy balls”. But after Sabalenka reached out to apologize, she hurried to bury any grudge.I was completely annoyed with myself and the emotions overwhelmed me. I just completely lost it.
Aryna Sabalenka
I preach love, I preach light. I just want us to be kumbaya, to live happily, hakuna matata, and to be happy here.
Coco Gauff
