Sabalenka explains why she smashed racquet in anger, walked off in controversial Australian Open meltdown: ‘Needed to…’

Aryna Sabalenka is a three-time Grand Slam champion, which also includes the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open titles.

It wasn't Aryna Sabalenka's day as she failed to match Martina Hingis’ record of three consecutive Australian Open titles. The World No. 1 crumbled to a 3-6, 6-2, 5-7 defeat against Madison Keys, who claimed her maiden Grand Slam title. Prior to the final, Sabalenka had dropped only one set during her campaign. But the summit clash began with plenty of errors from the Belarusian and her service game was below-par.

Aryna Sabalenka reacts during the final against Madison Keys.(REUTERS)

She did manage to stage a comeback in the second set, but the errors came back in the decider as she crashed to a defeat, and broke down. While Keys was celebrating, Sabalenka smashed her racquet and then also covered her face with her towel, while sobbing on her chair. Then she simply got up, picked her bag, and left for the locker room.

Aryna Sabalenka explains her behaviour

Then later, she was brought back for the closing ceremony, and seemed to be in better control of her emotions as she congratulated Keys. During the post-match press conference in Melbourne, Sabalenka was asked about her on-court meltdown after losing. She said, “There definitely was a bit of frustration because I was so close to achieve something crazy.”

“When you're out there, you're fighting, but it seems like everything going not the way you really want to go.

“I just needed to throw those negative emotions at the end just so I could give a speech, not stand there being disrespectful. I was just trying to let it go and be a good person, be respectful. It's okay. I mean, I'm the one who knows that after tough losses, there is good wins. So I'll keep working and make sure that next time, if I'll be in this situation, I'll definitely play better,” she added.

Explained why she walked off before the closing ceremony, she revealed that she needed some time to ‘switch off’. “Yeah, that was tough. I just needed that time for myself to like switch off and forget and leave it in the best and be respectful, not be - I don't know,” she said.

“I just wanted to be respectful. I just needed to throw those stuff out and needed some time with myself. Yeah, that's definitely really tough. I was standing there and just was like: ‘Okay, c'mon, you've been in her position. She deserves that. She was better player than you’. Just, you know, it was tough,” she added.

Sabalenka is a three-time Grand Slam champion, which also includes the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open titles.