Arabic version: سابالينكا تعتذر بعد مقطع متداول من نهائيات رابطة التنس النسائية
According to BBC News, Aryna Sabalenka has apologised and denied that comments made during her WTA Finals defeat by Elina Svitolina were directed at her opponent or Ukrainians.
A video posted on social media showed the Belarusian world number two angrily gesturing and swearing in Russian during Saturday’s 6-3 3-6 6-1 loss to Ukraine’s Svitolina. Some commentators interpreted the remarks as an insult towards Svitolina or Ukrainians more broadly.
Sabalenka said on social media that her comment “was not directed at Elina”. The 28-year-old said she had been frustrated by a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering her mistakes and that she reacted emotionally.
She said she should have handled her frustration differently and apologised to anyone offended. Sabalenka also said Svitolina had played a great match and wished her well for the rest of the tournament.
Sabalenka will be replaced as world number two by Mirra Andreeva on Monday. Ukrainian players have a long-standing policy of not shaking hands or taking pre-match photographs with Russian or Belarusian players because of the ongoing invasion of their country.
