In Wimbledon exit, Aryna Sabalenka reflects on what she learned from her Coco Gauff comments at French Open
"You're not gonna see a Roland-Garros press conference," Sabalenka said jokingly to open her news conference Thursday, following her Wimbledon semifinal defeat to American Amanda Anisimova.
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Sablenka was referencing her post-match comments that downplayed Coco Gauff's French Open final victory in June.
Sabalenka added before laughing: "Anyone who was waiting for that, you can leave right now."
Sabalenka, a 27-year-old from Belarus and the world No. 1, admitted that Anisimova was the better player Thursday and played braver tennis than her.
Anisimova, 23, came into Wimbledon as the No. 13 seed and now will play for her first-ever Grand Slam title. She outlasted Sabalenka in a back-and-forth semifinal match 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. In the process, Anisimova improved her head-to-head record against Sabalenka to 6-3.
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Sabalenka, who noted her return game was not up to her standard Thursday, found herself trailing 4-1 in the final set.
"I still came back. I still had chances," Sabalenka said. "Then the last game, she just smashed my serves. I have to say that she was more brave today. Maybe when I was just trying to stay in the point, she was playing more aggressive. Sometimes I was just stopping my arms, making mistakes I shouldn't be making. I think I should've been a little more brave today and remembered that I'm on the top of the ranking, and I can do that. I think at some point in the match I forgot about that.'
Sabalenka's remarks Thursday were much more composed than the ones she delivered last month after losing to Gauff, who had also defeated her in the 2023 US Open final. At the time, Sabalenka attributed Gauff's French Open final victory more to Sabalenka's own mistakes — she made 70 unforced errors — and less to Gauff's level of play. Sabalenka went as far as suggesting that Iga Świątek would have beaten Gauff had Świątek advanced to the final.
The next day, Sabalenka walked back those comments in an Instagram post, stating that Gauff "deserved to win" the French Open final. Sabalenka later told Eurosport Germany that she reached out to Gauff to personally apologize.
Sabalenka was asked Thursday how her French Open final defeat to Gauff, and the subsequent backlash she received for her post-match comments, influenced the humble way she processed her Wimbledon semifinal loss to Anisimova.
"I just don't want to face that hate again," Sabalenka said with a laugh before continuing. "No, I mean, we're all people. We all can lose control over our emotions. It's absolutely normal. Every time when I was really that close in this match today to completely losing it and start yelling, screaming, smashing rackets, I kept reminding myself that that's not an option, and it's not gonna help me stay in the match and fight for my dream. Even right now I took a bit more time before doing my media, just so I can be Aryna, not that crazy person at that media day at Roland-Garros.'
Thursday's semifinal match between Sabalenka and Anisimova included two delays, each related to fans struggling with the London heat. During both stoppages, Sabalenka offered help by bringing water over to the stands.
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"I just hope they feel better," Sabalenka said after the match. "It didn't interrupt [my play] in any ways. I was able to play my game. It didn't matter how long the pause was.
"I just hope they feel better."
Sabalenka is a three-time Grand Slam champion, but she's still searching for her first Wimbledon title.
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