Zürcher Nachrichten - Sabalenka criticises Anisimova behaviour after shock Wimbledon exit

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 semi-final 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.

- Calm Sabalenka -

Ironically, Sabalenka's rant came after she had opened her post-match press conference by telling reporters she would not repeat her French Open final outburst.

She was forced to apologise after claiming it was her poor play and not Coco Gauff's performance that was the decisive factor in the American's victory at Paris last month.

"Are you guys waiting for something? You're not going to see the Roland Garros press conference, so anyone who was waiting for that, you can leave right now," she said.

Sabalenka did give credit to Anisimova for her spirited display, praising the 23-year-old for being "brave" at key moments and admitting she was the better player.

Insisting she had learnt from the debacle at Roland Garros, Sabalenka added: "I just don't want to face that hate again. We all can lose control over our emotions. It's absolutely normal.

"Every time when I was really that close today to completely lose it and start yelling, screaming, smashing the racquets, I kept reminding myself that's not an option, and it's not going to help me to stay in the match and to fight for my dream.

"Even right now I took a bit more time before doing my media just so I can be Aryna, not that crazy person that been on that media day at Roland Garros."

But, despite her protestations of a new-found maturity, Sabalenka could not help aiming a parting shot at the assembled media.

"Ha, ha, ha, you didn't get anything," she said before poking her tongue out.

F.E.Ackermann--NZN