Aryna Sabalenka battled into the Madrid Open semi-finals, but her quarter-final win over Marta Kostyuk certainly wasn’t without controversy.
Sabalenka reached her fourth Madrid Open semi-final with the victory, in which she was pushed all the way by Kostyuk.
But WTA number one Sabalenka showed her determination to triumph 7-6(7-4), 7-6(9-7) over the 24th seed.
The top seed earned a semi-final clash with Elina Svitolina, having entered the WTA 1000 event on the back of a final loss at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Belarusian star Sabalenka lost to Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart last month, with another final now being eyed at the Madrid Open.
Some tennis fans criticise Aryna Sabalenka after Madrid Open controversy
But she came under fire from fans in her latest win, having stopped play serving at 4-5 in the second set tiebreak due to rain.
And despite missing her first serve, she was allowed to have another attempt rather than a second, much to the annoyance of Kostyuk and some tennis fans.
One wrote on X: “Marta is spot on. Sabalenka just walks off despite the umpire saying carry on and she lets her get away with it.”
A second said: “Nah that sucks, point would have counted if the serve was in and Sabalenka was the one to decide she gets that serve back. Wack.”
And a third commented: “So she lost 1st serve, was down at the crucial point at 6-6 (4-5), decided it was a great moment to stop the play, stopped the play unilaterally and then got another 1st serve. And her fans think it is ok to have two 1st serves. In what universe?”
Other annoyed fans wrote: “Sabalenka’s shaaaady gaaaames” and “Unsportsmanlike conduct during the tiebreak. You deserved a time violation and play the 2nd serve only as you had interrupted the point on purpose.”
Aryna Sabalenka’s Madrid Open history as she reaches semi-final
There was, however, support for Sabalenka, with plenty of blame also instead directed towards the umpire for not stopping the match despite the rain.
Ultimately, the Belarusian icon won’t care one bit about the noise surrounding the manner of her latest win.
She has shown both her talent and fighting spirit so far at the Madrid Open, where she is chasing a third title.
The world number one lifted the trophy in both 2021 and 2023, defeating Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek respectively, with the Pole having beaten the Belarusian in last year’s final.
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