“That was just completely unprofessional of me,” Sabalenka said. “I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I’m just a human being who’s still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco afterward — not immediately, but recently.”
Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the final with 70 unforced errors — compared to Gauff’s 30.
She said she wrote to Gauff to apologize and “make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her.”
“I never intended to attack her,” Sabalanka added. “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 go back and think about it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realized a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?”
Sabalenka, a three-time major champion, also lost to Gauff in the 2023 U.S. Open final, where she also won the first set.
“I kept getting so emotional,” Sabalenka added. “So I learned a lot. Above all, one thing: I’m the one who always treats my opponents with great respect, whether I win or lose. Without that respect, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So it was a tough but very valuable lesson for me.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Credit: AP
Credit: AP