Aryna Sabalenka was left distraught following her French Open final defeat.
The Belarusian suffered a three-set defeat to Coco Gauff in Saturday’s final, despite taking the first set.
The World number one became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach three successive Grand Slam finals.
But as was the case in January’s Australian Open final, Sabalenka just fell short against an American player and the anguish from the defeat was etched all over her face.
Rennae Stubbs criticises Aryna Sabalenka for her comments after the French Open final
Sabalenka raced into a 4-1 lead to start the French Open final. But Gauff fought back to level the set, before Aryna Sabalenka claimed it on the tiebreak. But Gauff took control in sets two and three and maintained her composure to serve out a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 win.
During the trophy presentation Sabalenka claimed the conditions were ‘horrible’. But Rennae Stubbs took to X to criticise her comments and give credit to Gauff for forcing Sabalenka to make mistakes. “Ugh….the tennis was not that bad,” Stubbs wrote.
“You made a bazillion unforced errors because you’re playing against the fastest players in the world who is gutsy as hell and had better composure than you!! But to say it was horrible…..ugh!!!! Damn that was rude. I said what I said.”
Fans on X shared a similar point of view to Stubbs as one wrote: “Yeaaa not a great look from Sabalenka, normally she is more gracious after matches but she let her emotions take over a bit today (just like in the match).”
Another said: “Exactly one of the biggest differences in the match! One crashes out and blames everything when it wasn’t terrible and the other was cool, calm, collected,” while this user posted: “He just said it again!
“Doubled down apologising for everyone having to watch this terrible tennis. Coco didn’t exactly look thrilled at that.”
Aryna Sabalenka breaks record during French Open final
Sabalenka was in tears as she addressed the crowd during the trophy presentation.
The final was played in blustery conditions and the top seed did not make best use of the conditions compared to her opponent.
Sabalenka went on to register a staggering 70 unforced errors during the contest, as she grew frustrated with the wind and Gauff’s elite defensive skills.
This a record for the highest number of unforced errors in a women’s singles final at the French Open.
Sabalenka has now lost two successive Grand Slam finals, but there is little time to rest on her laurels with the grass court set to begin next week.
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