After becoming the first player to reach the final in three consecutive women’s singles Grand Slam tournaments (2024 US Open, 2025 AO, and the 2025 French Open) since Serena Williams (2016), everyone kept Aryna Sabalenka slightly ahead in the Roland Garros final against Coco Gauff. She got off to a stellar start in this match, leading 4-1, 40-0 in the first set, but she struggled to maintain that intensity on a windy Court Philippe-Chatrier. Although Sabalenka won the first set by 7-6(5), her 70 unforced errors (the highest in any women’s singles main-draw match at the 2025 French Open) saw the match get away from the hands of the Belarusian by 7-6(5),2-6,4-6. After facing a second consecutive defeat in a major final to an American, she looked extremely disappointed and even broke down in tears. However, more than this defeat, her post-match comments while analyzing the match have drawn severe criticisms in the tennis world. Recently, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, also took a jibe at Sabalenka for the same. But what had she said in that interview, though?
During the press conference, Aryna Sabalenka claimed that it was the “worst tennis” she has ever played in a long time. She felt she was a bit overemotional in this match and didn’t handle herself well enough for this mega battle. However, the most interesting part of this press conference was Sabalenka claiming, “I think she won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes from, if you look from the outside, easy balls.” Later on, she took another dig at Coco Gauff by stating that Iga Swiatek would’ve won the final if the Pole had reached this stage.
What was Coco Gauff’s reaction to this, though? Well, hearing this comparison with Swiatek, the American stated, “I don’t agree with that. I’m here sitting here (laughter). Last time I played – no shade to Iga or anything – but I played her and I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.” She insisted that the way Sabalenka was playing in the last few weeks she was a clear favorite to win this title and she thinks the Belarusian was the “best person” that she could have played in the final. However, later on, Aryna Sabalenka shared an IG story, clarifying her stance on the controversy that has been going on around her comments, by admitting, “She (Gauff) was the better player yesterday, and I want to give her the credit she earned.”
In an interview with ‘Good Morning America’, Coco Gauff revealed that she was a little bit “surprised” about the comments and everything. But having said that, she also mentioned, “I’m gonna give her the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure it was an emotional day, emotional match.” What did Rennae Stubbs have to say about Aryna Sabalenka’s comments? Well, during a recent episode of her podcast, Stubbs said, “I could not believe those words came out of her mouth. You could tell immediately, she started to cry the moment she got on mic and I was like, my heart broke for her. The crowd was ready to put their arms around her and cheer her and give her a five-minute standing ovation like they’ve done so many times through the years with so many great champions.“
She further claimed, “Those words came out of her mouth and the crowd went, gave silent and I was like, oh no, no, no, reel that back, reel that back and she didn’t reel it back. Then she went into the press and she doubled down on it and I was like, this is so bad and I’ve talked to a couple of players about this, and all of them said, I gave her a passport, she sat on the court because we’ve all been there.” According to Rennae Stubbs, “I got a lot of, oh man, I love Sabalenka, but I don’t know anymore. It took her 24 hours after that to write an apology, essentially on Instagram. But I’m like, girlfriend.” She said that her reaction after the defeat was extremely bad, and there are no excuses for it. She is quite disappointed to see Sabalenka taking the credit away from her opponent.
A tearful Aryna Sabalenka French Open Tennis, Day Fourteen, Tennis, Roland Garros, Paris, France – 07 Jun 2025 EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxGRExMLTxCYPxROUxBULxUAExKSAxCHNxDENxINDxITAxPORxESPxSWExTURxMEXxCOLxVENxPERxECUxBRAxARGxCHIxURUxPARxPANxONLY Copyright: xJavierxGarcia/Shutterstockx 15346223aq
Stubbs hailed Gauff for frustrating the hell out of Aryna Sabalenka on clay, and she thinks this is where she needs to be credited for her valiant efforts. Even the former British number one, Tim Henman, praised Coco Gauff for her incredible resilience amid Sabalenka’s highly aggressive brand of tennis. What do the other tennis experts have to say about Sabalenka’s post-match comments?
American tennis legends aren’t too pleased with Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match comments
Over the past two years, Aryna Sabalenka has really set the bar high for herself. If we take a look at her record this season, the world number one has already won three titles (Brisbane International, Miami Open, and Madrid Open). She has a win-loss record of 40-7 this season, but at the same time, this was Sabalenka’s fourth defeat in the final of a tournament this season. Did this frustration lead to statements like that?
We don’t know, but reacting to Aryna Sabalenka’s comments, tennis legend Chris Evert said, “When you heard Aryna say it was the worst [final], I was like wow! You have to adjust. It’s the same on both sides. You have to make that adjustment. If you are number one in the world or number two in the world, you should know how to play on windy days by now.” She claimed that the conditions were the same for both players, and Coco Gauff did well to adapt to it in a much better way. So, that’s the difference in this epic final!
Even Andy Roddick didn’t look too pleased with Aryna Sabalenka’s comments. On the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, he said, “I didn’t really like what she did in the post-match presser yesterday, talking about how terrible she played and all this stuff and how Iga would have won had she played Coco. I don’t know. If a frog had wings it wouldn’t bump its a– when it hopped. What is the point of saying it? I thought it was beneath the precedent that she has set for herself before and frankly, it does not matter. Scoreboard wins, loses. There was just no reason.“
There have been a lot of reactions coming in on Sabalenka’s post-match comments. But what are your thoughts on the same? Share your views with us in the comments section.
The post Aryna Sabalenka’s Apology Falls Flat After Coco Gauff Snub Fuels Serena Williams’ Ex-Coach’s Fiery Backlash appeared first on EssentiallySports.
