It’s probably safe to say the WTA Finals did not go as planned for Aryna Sabalenka.
The former WTA No. 1 entered the year-end tournament looking to bounce back after losing that top ranking to Elena Rybakina. Instead, she dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the rankings and found herself clarifying an ugly on-court moment via social media on Saturday.
That moment came during Sabalenka’s final round-robin match against Elina Svitolina, which the Ukrainian veteran won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semifinals and eliminate Sabalenka.
During the third set, one X account noticed Sabalenka appeared to be complaining in Russian about, well, something involving Ukraine. Via lip-reading, the post speculated Sabalenka was either saying “Those f***ing Ukrainians, for f***’s sake!” or “That f***ing Ukrainian b****, for f***’s sake!”?
The clip soon went viral, to the point that Sabalenka felt the need to respond via her Instagram story. The Belarusian star did not specify what exactly she said, only that it was directed at a group of fans cheering against her rather than for Svitolina.
Regardless, Sabalenka apologized. The full statement:
I want to clarify something from my recent match that has been circulating online.
My comment was not directed at Elina. I was frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment.
That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and l apologise to anyone l offended.
Elina played a great match, and I wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament.
It’s been an emotionally raw situation around Svitolina in particular after announcing her divorce from beloved French player Gael Monfils last month.
Less than two hours after Sabalenka posted her statement, Svitolina finished off a 6-2, 6-1 win over 2026 Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova to reach her first final at the tournament since 2019. That match will be against the French Open champion Mirra Andreeva in another Russia-Ukraine match.
It was Andreeva who leapfrogged Sabalenka for No. 2 in the WTA live rankings by reaching the final on Saturday. In her round-robin match against Sabalenka, the 19-year-old fell behind 4-1 in the first set then won 11 straight games, and 45 of the last 55 points, for an impressive victory.
Andreeva has now won eight straight sets at the WTA Finals, including a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jessica Pegula in the semifinals on Saturday. As for Sabalenka, she is now 2-4 since losing the US Open final to Rybakina, including a first-round upset against Ann Li at the Wuhan Open.
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