Aryna Sabalenka swears at cameraperson and smashes racquet after US Open final defeat to Elena Rybakina
WTA
Aryna Sabalenka let her tempers fray during the final of the US Open with the former World No.1 now not able to seal the three-peat as she was beaten by the briliant Elena Rybakina who managed to scoop the title in New York.
Rybakina has now held on to every major other than the French Open in her career so far and continues to shine. While the Belarusian has another major final where she thinks what could've been.
Previously she has lost the US Open final to Coco Gauff and then came back to win it, but has since had multiple disheartening losses all while being the perceived top dog of women's tennis which is now not the case as she loses her last Grand Slam title she owns as well as the World No.1 spot.
She smashed a ball into the crowd during the final and then smashed her racquet off the bench the moment it was over as tempers flared. She also told a cameraperson to f*** off in a rant as she tried to deal with the defeat.
Aryna Sabalenka no tenía muchas ganas de que la filmen...
— Tiempo De Tenis (@Tiempodetenis1) September 12, 2026
🗣 "Fuck off" pic.twitter.com/S9fSAq43pq https://t.co/uy4X2hQZau
Sabalenka speaks on why this happened
Speaking afterwards, she described why this happened and what she was thinking in the moment and said it was the weight of the situation which annoyed her. She has had issues before dealing with this after defeats. So this is just another episode.
This of course a stark change to Rybakina who is obviously more timid and apart from the odd outburst at her time is quite cool, calm and collected.
“It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat,” she said. “So I just wanted to let it go, because if I would hold it inside, right now or here or there on the court, I wouldn’t be able to say a word or I would just go not really nice over there. So I just wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside.”
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She was happy with the tournament though and will use it as motivation and fuel she admitted. She said that in reality she can only come back stronger.
“Overall I should be happy with the level I played, and there’s lots of things to take from this tournament,” she said. “As experience shows, that I only come back stronger, and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do better job.”
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- I, like writer of this wonderful article, also picked Noskova to win this entire thing. I would love it if she and Andreeva are in the final.Rapunzel12-11-2026
- "Priorities", Saba... spend less time in front of cameras, anti-Social Media, selfies and back to Tennis.
mandoist12-11-2026 - Tell this to Andreeva!mandoist12-11-2026
- Andreeva with 11 games in a row to add to Saba's downward spiral issue !!! Personal feelings aside... Jess Pegula may want to reassess her evaluation of Mirra's abilities.mandoist12-11-2026
- I predicted whenthe list was finalised that Linda Noskova would win the WTA Finals and her matches against Gauff and Kostyuk prove that. She is the best (underrated) player in the world!Rapunzel11-11-2026
- Either Lena has a chronic internal ailment (i.e., colitis, enteritis, Crohn's, or some type of lower abdomen issue) -- or she is once again dealing with 'Vukovitis'. Mental stress can indeed cause lower body pains. No matter... whatever is truly going on sucks. "Virus" excuse is getting a bit old -- and often -- at this point.mandoist09-11-2026
- Ironically, Martina became a U.S. Citizen about the same time as the Orange Convicted Felon & Abuser was just beginning on his road to losing all Daddy's Millions!!mandoist09-11-2026
- "Another fresh start is in the cards." Thanks for the Humor!! I'm guessing this is the minimum one can do to keep all your sponsors hanging-on in perpetuity?mandoist09-11-2026
- Vukov is doing this to Lena... AGAIN!!!!! WTA's autonomous collective should be dismantled for allowing Vukov to re-emerge from his hand-slapping suspension. Just ask WTA employees how that's been going lately as they witness his continued verbal abuses. Women's Pro Tennis should start over.mandoist08-11-2026
- Can't help but suspect Vukov is back to his old self again. Thank you, WTA. Perhaps you can give them a "Battling Couple of the Year Award 2026" ??mandoist08-11-2026
