“Shame on you”, “Disgusting” – Fans furious at Aryna Sabalenka for reportedly calling Elina Svitolina a ‘b***h’ at WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka is in the center of a firestorm for allegedly calling her Ukrainian counterpart Elina Svitolina a “b***h” during their tense battle at the WTA Finals. After a grueling three-set battle, the Belarusian fell flat and succumbed to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 loss at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
While the result was a matter of concern, fans were quick to point out Sabalenka’s alleged comment. Some believe that the four-time Grand Slam Champion had apparently abused Svitolina during the deciding set.
A Ukrainian tennis outlet, BTU, shared the footage and said Sabalenka appeared to say “That f***ing Ukrainian b***h, for f***’s sake!” The claim rests on lip-reading rather than audio, and the exact words remain unverified. Aryna Sabalenka did not speak to the media after the match. Neither she nor the WTA had addressed the clip by Saturday.
“Oh my god. Can Sabalenka be any more disgusting,” one user wrote.
Here’s how Aryna Sabalenka’s turbulent season ended in Indian Wells
Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2, got off to the start she wanted, striking an angled forehand winner to break in the opening game. However, she failed to sustain it. The 28-year-old lost six of the next seven games to surrender the first set. She was broken to love twice in that stretch, with her first serve and her groundstrokes both deserting her.
The second set was a different match. Sabalenka cut down her error count, broke twice and led 5-1, and although she was broken when serving for the set, she closed it out on the second attempt. She then broke Svitolina to open the decider and led 1-0.
From there, she failed to win another game in the match. Svitolina took six straight, and Sabalenka’s resistance ended with a double fault that handed over a third break point, after she had already saved two. Svitolina served it out on her fourth match point with a forehand winner.
The statistics told the story of the collapse. Aryna Sabalenka finished with 35 unforced errors, and Svitolina, who made 24 errors against 21 winners, converted six of eight break points. It followed Wednesday’s 6-4, 6-0 defeat by Mirra Andreeva, a match Sabalenka lost the last 11 games of.
For Aryna Sabalenka, the defeat closes a year that brought three titles, including the Indian Wells and Miami double in March, but no major, with losses to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open and US Open finals. Rybakina ends the year at No. 1, and Sabalenka is set to drop to No. 3 behind Andreeva.
