Aryna Sabalenka has been at the centre of a storm since losing the Roland Garros final to Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka made controversial comments at Roland Garros after losing in the final to Gauff.
There was a huge reaction to what the Belarusian said both on court and in her press conference, with Sabalenka being heavily criticised.
This led to Sabalenka releasing a statement and subsequently apologising for what she had said.
Aryna Sabalenka explains why she did not apologise to Coco Gauff straight away
After Sabalenka won her first match at Wimbledon against qualifier Carson Branstine in straight sets, she headed to speak on the Tennis Channel desk.
This is where the topic of her controversial Roland Garros comments were brought up once again, with Sabalenka explaining why she did not immediately apologise to Gauff.
“It’s something I am definitely not proud of but we are all learning, right?” said Sabalenka. “I wanted to see her in person and talk to her but I just saw that she was still in New York while she is in Berlin so I was like maybe she is not coming.
“I had to text her but I wanted to talk in person. I had to message to apologise and say that I did not want to offend her. I lost control over my emotions and I was so upset with myself.
“I was just completely lost. I am really happy that she was like girl I got it, it’s okay. No worries. It was such a relief over here.”
It appears that all is now well between the top two ranked WTA players, with Gauff accepting Sabalenka’s apology.
Aryna Sabalenka reveals if she is over losing the Roland Garros final now
Now in her first appearance at Wimbledon since 2023, Sabalenka will be looking to put all the controversy from Roland Garros behind her.
While Sabalenka has admitted that the backlash has taken its toll on her, she explained that she is now feeling recharged for the grass court major.
“It was really hard in that moment when I lost because for some reason I thought that I won the first set, I thought okay it’s coming,” said Sabalenka. “But it slipped away.
“Then after a while I am glad it happened to me what happened because I had opportunities to sit back and look at everything as the bigger picture, and I realise that she was the better player so there is nothing to recover from that’s it.
“Move on to the next one. So I am here with a new set up in my head and recharged and ready to go.”
Sabalenka will now move on to her second round match, where she will play against Marie Bouzkova.
This will be a third time meeting between the pair, with Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 2-1.
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