“People tend to look for any excuse to get upset about something" - Aryna Sabalenka's fiery attitude following US Open defeat defended

Tempers flared after the US Open final as Aryna Sabalenka fumed a first US Open defeat since 2023. Following the 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 loss to Elena Rybakina, she has since been criticised for her attitude, which involved smashing her racket and swearing at the camera operator. However, her actions have been defended by Andy Roddick, who did not jump on the bandwagon of critics.

Sabalenka was the two-time reigning US Open champion and barely put a foot wrong at Flushing Meadows in the prior few years. However, towards the latter stages of the final she was outclassed by a superb Rybakina.

After already snatching the World No.1 spot off her, the Kazakh was determined to add a first US Open to her collection and successfully did so to make it two wins from two against Sabalenka in Grand Slam finals this year, following in the footsteps of the Australian Open.

As the cool and composed Rybakina felt the jubilation of the triumph sink in, the opposite was occurring for her opponent. Sabalenka was in no mood to be doing anything, furious to have lost her US Open crown.

As she sat down on her bench, she smashed her racket on the floor a few times, breaking it before shouting out a profanity at the cameraperson filming her. She would sit in a miserable silence for a while with her team before eventually going up to collect the runner-up trophy for the first time since 2023.

Tennis has some great sportsmanship moments. Prime examples include Carlos Alcaraz who, despite losing in the quarter-finals, embraced his opponent, Ben Shelton, at the net before leaving Arthur Ashe Stadium with a smile on his face.

This obviously got him a lot of praise on social media, with the bar now set a lot higher in terms of respect. Tennis fans were waiting for their chance to lament someone the second something went wrong, and that is what occurred with Sabalenka at the end of her match.

Roddick saw it from this perspective. “People tend to look for any excuse to get upset about something and criticise on their Twitter account," he said on his podcast Served. "I just think they will look for something. I won’t get upset if you break your own things. I don’t care, as long as you are kind. Could it have been done later? Yes, of course. Will I take it personally because she broke her own thing? No. She has already shown resentment in defeat on other occasions.”

The 2003 champion outlined the 'double standard' in place. "If someone quits after losing the NBA Finals, they criticise them for being too happy, for fist-bumping those they lost to. No, it’s as if they had broken something. It’s like, what do you want? Whatever, let people live. The mistake she made before was disrespecting and publicly diminishing her opponent, but I don’t care what you say to your team."

For Roddick, it is all about respect. If you do not show that, then criticism may be deserved, but according to him there was enough respect between Sabalenka and Rybakina not to make a big deal out of the situation, debunking the seriousness of the racket smash.

"As long as there is a minimum of respect for whom you have played against, for what you have done and for what they have done, if you break a racket, who cares? I can’t imagine being an adult watching that and then going to a social media account and thinking: 'I can’t believe she broke a racket. Come on, what are we doing?'”