Former American tennis star Andy Roddick has defended Aryna Sabalenka’s outbursts at the US Open, but conceded that the runner-up has been ‘salty’ and disrespected her opponents previously. The new world No. 2 was defeated in three sets by Elena Rybakina in New York, with Sabalenka unravelling publicly in the closing stages of the contest.

Shortly after Rybakina confirmed her first US Open title, Sabalenka smashed her racket on the floor and then told a camera operator to “f*** off” while the lens was pointed in her direction. She has since been fined by the tournament and criticised heavily by fans, but Roddick insists that Sabalenka did nothing wrong.

Despite surrendering her world No. 1 ranking to Rybakina at the US Open, Sabalenka remains second in the world rankings.

Having failed to claim a Grand Slam title this year, her frustration was plain to see as the match slipped from her grasp in New York.

Roddick, who sympathised with her predicament, spoke out on her behalf during his Served Podcast. “People are often looking for a reason to just be upset about something and to go Twitter finger their account,” Roddick said.

“I just think that they are going to look for something. I am not going to get mad at you if you break your own stuff. I don’t care as long as you are gracious.

“Could she do it after? Yeah, sure. Am I going to be personally offended that she broke her own thing? No.

“She has been salty in defeat before. But I do think there is a double standard. If someone walks off after losing the NBA Finals, they get criticised, saying they are too happy, or they are dapping up the people they lost to. No, it’s like ‘they broke stuff.’

It’s like, what do you want? It’s like whatever, just let people live. The mistake she has made before is being disrespectful and taking credit away from your opponent in a public fashion, but I don’t care what you say to your team.

“As long as there is a base level of respect for who you have played and what you have done and what they’ve done, if you break a racket, who cares?

“I can’t imagine being an adult seeing that and then going to a social media account and being like ‘I can’t believe she broke a racket.’ Come on, what are we doing!”

Sabalenka’s next appearance on court will be at the China Open, a WTA 1000 tournament held in Beijing, running from September 30 to October 11. Having withdrawn from the competition last year, she will be keen to return to form and recapture her winning momentum.

The Belarus star has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals at the China Open, which remains one of four WTA 1000 titles that have so far eluded her.