Sabalenka Apologizes to Gauff After Roland Garros Controversy
The world’s number one tennis player, Aryna Sabalenka, has expressed her apologies to Coco Gauff for the comments she made after her defeat in the French Open final.
In an interview with Eurosport Germany, Sabalenka admitted that her post-match statements were a mistake. In the press conference after the match in Paris, Sabalenka had suggested that the result was due more to her own errors than to Gauff’s performance.
“That was completely unprofessional of me. I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said at that moment. We all make mistakes. I am a human being who is still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But I also want to say that I wrote to Coco afterwards, not immediately, but recently”, declared Sabalenka.
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka dijo que le escribió a Coco Gauff para disculparse por sugerir que su derrota en la final del Abierto de Francia se debió más a sus propios errores que al desempeño de Gauff.Sabalenka, despite achieving 37 winning shots, committed 70 unforced errors in the final, compared to Gauff’s 30.
The Belarusian tennis player stated that she wrote to Gauff to apologize and “make sure she knew that she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her.”
“I never intended to attack her. I was very emotional and I wasn’t very smart in that press conference. I’m not necessarily grateful for what I did. It took me a while to go back and think about it, approach it with open eyes and understand. I realized a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?” added Sabalenka.
Sabalenka, three-time Grand Slam champion, also lost to Gauff in the 2023 US Open final, where she also won the first set.
“I got carried away by the emotion. I learned a lot. Above all, one thing: I am the one who always treats my opponents with great respect, whether I win or lose. Without that respect, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So it was a hard but very valuable lesson for me,” he concluded.
