Aryna Sabalenka’s coach, Anton Dubrov, walked out of the players’ box following a fiery exchange with the Belarusian during her match against Jessica Pegula at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
When Pegula held a 2-1 lead in the third set, a frustrated Sabalenka lashed out at the players’ box where Dubrov was sitting. In response, Dubrov left the match. After his departure, Sabalenka channeled all her energy into the game and eventually won the encounter 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Former WTA pro Rennae Stubbs shed light on the intense emotions that unfolded between Sabalenka and her coaching team. Speaking on her podcast, Stubbs recounted the incident:
“Sabalenka decided to give her player’s box a bit of a spray today at one-all in the third, two to one in the third, down on serve to go down 2-1—gave it a bit of a spray to the player’s box, and the player’s box said, ‘See you later.’ So Anton Dubrov was like, ‘Okay, you’re going to talk to me like that? Out of here,’” she said.
Stubbs revealed that it’s quite rare for a player and coach to reach the point of walking away from each other mid-match. She added that upon realizing her coach was leaving, Sabalenka turned the match around with sharp focus.
“When you know you’ve gone a little too far, it sort of makes you go, ‘Oh, oh sh*t, I better knuckle down here and try and win this match and stop being a little whiny b-i-*-ch.’ Because she was b**ching up a storm, and I think it gets to you,” Stubbs explained.
According to Stubbs, this moment motivated Sabalenka to give her best and secured her victory. She continued,
“The point was like, okay, well, I’ve got no one to bitch at anymore because my coach has literally left the building. She said he pissed her off—I don’t know what he said or did that pissed her off, but she was obviously upset. And then when he left, she was probably like, ‘Oh sh*t, maybe I went too far.’ And it certainly refocused her.”
### Aryna Sabalenka Admits She “Went Too Far”
After the match, Sabalenka apologized for the way she spoke to her coach. She expressed that while she was full of frustration, she admitted she “went too far.”
“Maybe I went a little bit too much on Anton. But yeah, I went a bit too far. I was so frustrated inside of me and I was just trying to let it go,” Sabalenka said.
She also agreed that it was the right decision for Anton Dubrov to walk away from the match. Sabalenka added that the incident motivated her to raise her level of play.
“Honestly, I think it was the right move from him to probably just let me be on my own. He really upset me and I was really stressed and angry on him, and that really helped me to pull out such tennis,” she explained.
With this latest win, Sabalenka has almost assured herself a spot in the semifinal, with her only remaining match being against Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/news-aryna-sabalenka-b-ching-storm-former-wta-pro-gives-verdict-belarusian-s-fiery-exchange-coach-wta-finals
