Aryna Sabalenka faced backlash after growing impatient with the ball kids at the Wuhan Open.
The top seed stormed back to beat Coco Gauff 1-6 6-4 6-4 after trailing by a set and a break in Saturday’s semi-final.
But she wasn’t happy when one of the ball girls took longer than expected to bring her the balls during a crucial game in the decisive set.
Sabalenka pulled off an epic escape at the Wuhan Open, maintaining her unbeaten record at the WTA 1000 tournament. After trailing Gauff by a set and 2-4, she won seven games on the bounce to steal the second set and go a break up in the decider.
While serving to extend her lead at 4-3, the three-time Grand Slam champion became exasperated with one of the ball kids who didn’t bring her the balls in time. She then got broken in the same game.
Sabalenka hurried the ball girl along, waving her arms to speed things up before looking away in frustration. When she finally received the balls, she picked two to use and chucked one back.
Fans online noticed her agitated actions and were quick to criticise Sabalenka. “Girl…not need to take your frustration out on those poor ball kids,” @J0ank4 wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
@sahyobarca added: “Yeah this is nasty.” And @S_RF_CA tweeted: “Disgusting behaviour from Sabalenka here, should never treat ball kids this way.”
Some pointed out that Sabalenka wasn’t the only one who treated ball kids in that manner. “the way some of these players think they can treat ball kids and umpires any way they want is actually just shameless honestly, not a good look at all,” @channelserve said.
Sabalenka appeared to realise the error of her ways during the game. When she next asked for balls from the same girl, she held her racket out so the ball kid could place them on it.
After choosing her balls, she left the rest on the racket to hand back to the girl. Sabalenka laughed with the crowd as she seemingly acknowledged her actions on the previous point.
It wasn’t the only thing that frustrated the world No. 2 during the game. Gauff broke her to draw level at 4-4 in the decider. But Sabalenka held her nerve and won the next two to book her spot in the final.
