Sabalenka embroiled in scandal over foul-mouthed outburst — the tennis player has already apologized to Svitolina and explained her emotions
Kyiv • UNN
The Belarusian tennis player said that her words were not directed at Svitolina or Ukrainians. She explained the outburst by the behavior of the fans.
A video has gone viral showing Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka swearing profanely after losing her match against Alina Svitolina and mentioning Ukrainians. Sabalenka later apologized and rejected accusations that she had insulted her Ukrainian opponent Elina Svitolina (ranked No. 6 in the world), reports UNN, citing the BBC.
Details
On Saturday, a video appeared on social media showing Sabalenka gesturing emotionally and using swear words in Russian during her match against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (which ended with the latter winning 6:3, 3:6, 6:1).
Some commentators interpreted the Belarusian tennis player's remarks as an insult directed at Svitolina or Ukrainians in general.
Sabalenka later wrote on social media that her "words were not directed at Elina" and that the emotional outburst was caused by the behavior of some spectators.
"I was irritated by a small group of spectators who were aggressively celebrating my mistakes, and at that moment I reacted too emotionally," the 28-year-old athlete said.
"However, I should have handled my emotions differently, so I apologize to everyone who may have been offended by this."
Sabalenka also noted that Svitolina had played an excellent match and wished her "all the best for the remainder of the tournament."
Context
After the match with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, a broadcast fragment spread on social media in which the Belarusian, according to one interpretation, says: "F***, b***h, Ukrainians, f*** off."
Additionally
Elina Svitolina, who had seen the widely circulated videos on social media—including those capturing Sabalenka's emotional reaction—expressed hope that their matches would be played in an atmosphere of respect.
Responding to the Belarusian's statement, Svitolina said: "As we can see, there are a lot of Ukrainians here, many Ukrainian flags, and, of course, they want me to win this particular match. Aryna and I have played many times. She has her supporters, and I have mine. I just hope that our matches will be treated with respect. There have been occasions when unpleasant comments related to the war were directed at me during our previous encounters.
That's how social media works: sometimes events there are covered in a somewhat distorted manner."
In the final, Svitolina will face Mirra Andreeva after confidently defeating Linda Noskova in the semifinal.