Aryna Sabalenka came under intense scrutiny for her on-court behavior at the US Open final. After losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to Elena Rybakina in three sets, the Belarusian threw her racket right away before obliterating it after the customary handshake. Her actions were condemned by many, but Andy Roddick isn’t one of them. He believes that breaking a racket isn’t a big deal and didn’t make too much of the incident.

“People are often looking for a reason to be upset about something and go Twitter finger their account, right? Like, I just think they’re going to look for something,” he said on The Served Podcast. “I’m not even mad if you break your own s**t. I don’t care. As long as you’re gracious, like, to your point. Now, if she’s breaking a racket, like, could she do it after? Yeah. Am I going to be personally offended that she broke her own thing? No. I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

Sabalenka is known to be a player who isn’t afraid to show her emotions on the court. This isn’t the first time that she has let frustration get the better of her and broken a racket after a disappointing result. The defeat to Rybakina was especially dejecting for her, as not only did she lose her No. 1 spot in the rankings, but also lost the opportunity to complete a three-peat at Flushing Meadows.

Victory in the final would have made Sabalenka just the third female player after Chris Evert and Serena Williams to win three titles in a row at the US Open. This was the second time that Rybakina got the better of the Belarusian in a Grand Slam final in 2026. The two had met earlier at the Australian Open final as well, but the Kazakh had triumphed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

This is the first time since 2023 that Sabalenka will finish a season without lifting a Grand Slam title. Her performances simply haven’t been up to the mark this year, as she has managed to win just three titles and has faltered in the biggest tournaments.

To add insult to injury, Sabalenka was fined $7,500 from her prize money for violating the Code of Conduct through her behavior in the final. Notably, smashing her racket wasn’t the only questionable thing that Sabalenka did during the final.

She was handed an early code violation by the chair umpire for ball abuse. Additionally, she was seen cursing at a TV cameraman after the match. Many found Sabalenka’s behavior to be unsportsmanlike and criticized her. One of her critics is Serena Williams’ coach, Rennae Stubbs, who believes that her behavior was unacceptable.

“The thing that I have a problem with and I was not a great loser,” she said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. “Aryna, I feel you, but at the same time, I don’t think I’ve ever broken a racket in front of my opponent before I’ve gone to shake their hand, and unfortunately, this has happened a couple of times where she broke her racket right in front of Rybakina as she was walking to the net to receive her. So then your opponent’s like, ‘oh sh*t, do I get out of the way here?’ and that’s very uncomfortable.”

This wasn’t even the first time that Sabalenka had destroyed her racket after losing a Grand Slam final. The same had happened after she was defeated by Madison Keys in the final of the 2025 Australian Open.

A similar incident occurred after she lost the final of the 2023 US Open to Coco Gauff. Sabalenka infamously had a meltdown in the locker room after the match, and the video of her destroying a racket went viral on social media platforms.

Sabalenka has been resistant to changing her behavior and hasn’t cared much about what people have had to say about her over the years. But her recent lack of success begs the question of whether her attitude is starting to become a problem for her. It remains to be seen if she will bring a change in her behavior in the coming tournaments.