It occurs to me that what Sabalenka said after the French Open final was basically no different than what Carson Branstine said in Ben's piece a couple of days ago, after qualifying -- that she didn't think anyone had ever outplayed her. Sabalenka's comments were just an application of that attitude to a specific match. And it does take such supreme self-belief, bordering on delusion, to become the best player in the world. So maybe we shouldn't be too surprised when players react after losses the way Sabalenka did.
Whether you like that attitude or not is up to you. (Reading what she said didn't make me want to root for Branstine. Good luck to her against Sabalenka.) My view is that you shouldn't express that self-belief in that way after a loss -- at least not without also giving your opponent credit. I like good sportsmanship.
More than a disrespect to Gauff, Sabalenka's words should be taken as self-criticism. No professional tennis player will feel outplayed after making nearly 70 unforced errors in a losing effort.
One of the hardest things in tennis is to lose gracefully. Especially such a huge match. It's not like you have a whole team behind you. It's just you and your opponent. Even us lowly club players have problems handling losing gracefully! Imagine how you'd feel losing at a Major! Coco and Aryna chose a great way to diffuse the emotions and bring positivity back.
I’m just saying this again, but Sabalenka’s comments were not garden variety losing finalist letting off stream. Fifty years of following tennis, and I think these were the most disrespectful comments I’ve heard from a losing Slam finalist. To say the player she beat in the semis would have beaten Coco in the final crosses a line. This isn’t about hate. You don’t have to be “friends” with everyone you see a lot. I’m not one of those who wanted Coco to clap back. But she could have pointed out that Sabalenka crossed some lines. You can accept an apology without doing a dance video. You can forgive without being THAT forgiving.
It occurs to me that what Sabalenka said after the French Open final was basically no different than what Carson Branstine said in Ben's piece a couple of days ago, after qualifying -- that she didn't think anyone had ever outplayed her. Sabalenka's comments were just an application of that attitude to a specific match. And it does take such supreme self-belief, bordering on delusion, to become the best player in the world. So maybe we shouldn't be too surprised when players react after losses the way Sabalenka did.
Whether you like that attitude or not is up to you. (Reading what she said didn't make me want to root for Branstine. Good luck to her against Sabalenka.) My view is that you shouldn't express that self-belief in that way after a loss -- at least not without also giving your opponent credit. I like good sportsmanship.
More than a disrespect to Gauff, Sabalenka's words should be taken as self-criticism. No professional tennis player will feel outplayed after making nearly 70 unforced errors in a losing effort.
One of the hardest things in tennis is to lose gracefully. Especially such a huge match. It's not like you have a whole team behind you. It's just you and your opponent. Even us lowly club players have problems handling losing gracefully! Imagine how you'd feel losing at a Major! Coco and Aryna chose a great way to diffuse the emotions and bring positivity back.
I’m just saying this again, but Sabalenka’s comments were not garden variety losing finalist letting off stream. Fifty years of following tennis, and I think these were the most disrespectful comments I’ve heard from a losing Slam finalist. To say the player she beat in the semis would have beaten Coco in the final crosses a line. This isn’t about hate. You don’t have to be “friends” with everyone you see a lot. I’m not one of those who wanted Coco to clap back. But she could have pointed out that Sabalenka crossed some lines. You can accept an apology without doing a dance video. You can forgive without being THAT forgiving.