Aryna Sabalenka’s semifinal encounter against Coco Gauff at the 2024 Wuhan Open witnessed some strange scenes on Saturday. After being frustrated by a ball girl being too slow, the Belarusian asked her to hurry up, drawing a mixture of reactions from fans at the stadium.
Sabalenka opened the clash by losing the first set 1-6, but then roared back to take the second set 6-4. With all to play for in the decider, the Belarusian kept up the momentum to break early and raced to a 4-2 lead. Serving after that to extend the lead, the World No. 2 did not think the ball girl was fast enough to keep up with the pace of the match, and gestured at her to give the balls faster.
The three-time Grand Slam champion’s actions were met with a small round of quiet boos from the Chinese fans, but things quickly returned to normal. On social media, however, Sabalenka received a lot of flak, with fans accusing her of “disgusting” behavior.
Aryna Sabalenka went on to beat Gauff 6-4 in the final set, and will next face off against either Zheng Qinwen or Wang Xinyu in the final of the WTA 1000 event.
“No expectations on support from the crowd” – Aryna Sabalenka on facing a Chinese player in the final of the 2024 Wuhan Open
Speaking at her press conference after the win over Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka spoke about how it would be to face off against a Chinese player in the final of the 2024 Wuhan Open. The Belarusian conceded that the home crowd will be firmly behind their own on the night, but did not think it would bother her too much.
The World No. 2 believed that she will get enough support from her team, and looked forward to lifting the “beautiful” Wuhan Open trophy on Saturday.
“I know obviously they going to support either of them more than me. But I know that I still got some people here who support me. This tournament feels like playing at home. Being the third time in the finals, hopefully I’ll get this beautiful trophy tomorrow,” Aryna Sabalenka said.
“But no expectations on support from the crowd. I have my team. I have my family. I have a lot of people who support me around the world. I’ll just focus on that,” she added.
Sabalenka has a good shot of regaining the World No. 1 ranking thanks to her run in Wuhan, and is now the Race leader ahead of current top-ranked Iga Swiatek.
