LONDON: Aryna Sabalenka took a swipe at Amanda Anisimova over her behaviour during the American’s stunning Wimbledon semifinal victory on Thursday.
The world number one crashed to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 defeat against the 13th seed to shatter her dream of reaching a first All England Club final.
The Belarusian top seed had reached the previous three Grand Slam finals, but she paid the price for an erratic display in the blazing Centre Court heat.
Sabalenka lost her cool with Anisimova during the bruising semifinal and was still angry with her rival several hours later.
Two incidents infuriated the 27-year-old, who was unhappy that Anisimova celebrated winning a point too early.
“I was just trying to chase the ball. She was already celebrating it. I mean, that’s a bit too early. Then she kind of pissed me off saying ‘Oh, that’s what she does all the time’,” Sabalenka said.
The three-time Grand Slam champion said Anisimova’s antics inspired her to fight back in the second set.
“I was grateful that she actually said that because it actually helped me to keep fighting. I’m like, ‘OK, now I’m going to show you the tennis’,” she said.
“I came back because I got really angry in that moment, probably in the third set I should have remembered that.”
Sabalenka was also irked that Anisimova failed to follow the tennis tradition of offering an apology when she won a point thanks to a fortunate deflection off the net.
“I just looked at her and, I mean, for sure she didn’t hear me. I was like, ‘You don’t want to say sorry?’ She just wanted, I guess, badly to win this match,” Sabalenka said. Agencies
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