Aryna Sabalenka says she apologized to Coco Gauff for downplaying her French Open win: 'Totally unprofessional of me'

Yahoo

5 hours ago

Aryna Sabalenka says that she has apologized to Coco Gauff for her post-match comments downplaying Gauff's French Open final victory.
Sabalenka spoke about her apology with Eurosport Germany for an interview published Tuesday, telling the publication that she "let my emotions get the better of me." She also lamented the "hate" she received in backlash to her comments.
"It was just totally unprofessional of me," Sabalenka said, per Reuters translation. "I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then.
"We all make mistakes. I'm only human and I'm still learning in life. We all have those days when we lose control.
"The difference with me is that the world watches me do it, I get a lot more hate afterwards for what I did than other people."
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Gauff defeated Sabalenka on June 7 in the French Open final. The win marked the second Grand Slam victory for Gauff and the second time she'd defeated Sabalenka in a Grand Slam final. Gauff previously beat Sabalenka for the US Open title in 2023.
What Sabalenka initially said
After Gauff's French Open win, Sabalenka downplayed the victory in her post-match news conference while attributing it to her own mistakes. She also suggested that Iga Świątek would have defeated Gauff had Świątek advanced to the final.
"It was really, honestly, the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know, how many months," Sabalenka said on June 7. "The conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played."
"She won the match — not because she played incredible — just because I made all of those mistakes. ... "I don't know. If Iga would [beat] me another day, I think she would go out today and get the win."
Sabalenka advanced to the final with a semifinal win over Świątek. She committed 70 unforced errors in the final against Gauff.
Coco Gauff, right, defeated Aryna Sabalenka on June 7 in the French Open final. (Photo by Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
(DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Gauff: 'I don't think that's a fair thing to say'
Gauff responded to Sabalenka's comments in her own post-match news conference, telling reporters that "I don't think that's a fair thing to say."
"I don't agree with that," Gauff said. "I'm here sitting here. Last time I played — no [shade] to Iga or anything — but I played her and I won in straight sets.
"I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen. Honestly, the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favorite to win. I think she was the best person I could have played in the final, her being No. 1 in the world, she was the best person to play."
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A day later, Sabalenka addressed her comments in an Instagram post declaring that Gauff was "the better player yesterday" and that she earned the French Open title.
'Yesterday was a tough one,' Sabalenka wrote. 'Coco handled the conditions much better than I did and fully deserved the win. She was the better player yesterday, and I want to give her the credit she earned. ...
"I didn't play my best, and Coco stepped up and played with poise and purpose. She earned that title. Respect."
Sabalenka's post did not include an apology. She told Eurosport on Tuesday that she has since contacted Gauff personally to apologize.
"I wanted to apologize and make sure that she knows that she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her. I never intended to attack her," Sabalenka said. "I was super emotional and not very smart at that press conference. I'm not necessarily grateful for what I did.
"It took me a while to look at it again, to go into it with my eyes open and to understand. I realized a lot about myself."