Aryna Sabalenka Pushes Past Coco Gauff Controversy to Sound Bold Wimbledon Alarm

It was a brutal loss to stomach. After a messy performance in the French Open final, Aryna Sabalenka didn’t hold back, saying Coco Gauff won “not because she played incredible, but because I made all those mistakes.” The comment didn’t sit well—fans and pundits alike saw it as taking away from Gauff’s moment. The backlash came fast, and so did the weight of regret. Now, with Wimbledon closing in, Sabalenka’s trying to shift the narrative—owning her words, tuning out the noise, and setting her sights on grass-court redemption.

In an exclusive interview with Eurosport Germany, more than a week after the Paris final, Sabalenka addressed the controversy head-on. “That was just completely unprofessional of me. I let my emotions get the better of me,” she said, acknowledging how raw the moment had been. “I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I’m just a human being who’s still learning in life.” She also revealed that she reached out to Gauff privately to apologize, making sure the 20-year-old American knew she “absolutely deserved” the title and that she had her full respect.

“I think we all have those days when we lose control. The difference with me is, the world is watching. I get a lot more hate for what I did than other people,” she later said. The honesty was unfiltered, and so was the self-reflection. “I was super emotional and not very smart at that press conference,” Sabalenka added. “It took me a while to revisit it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realised a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals? I kept getting so emotional.”  Her introspection didn’t stop there. “So I learned a lot. Above all, one thing: I’m the one who always treats my opponents with great respect — whether I win or lose. Without that respect, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So it was a tough but very instructive lesson for me.” With that chapter closed, Sabalenka’s focus has shifted fully to Wimbledon, the one Slam that still eludes her.

The 27-year-old has made the semifinals at the All England Club twice (2021 and 2023), but has yet to break through to the final. With her game well-suited for grass, backed by a 34–19 career record and a 64.15% win rate on the surface, she enters the tournament as a major contender. Her serve, aggressive baseline game, and flat hitting make her especially dangerous on grass, which rewards first-strike tennis. And having already fallen short in two Slam finals this year, she’ll be hungry not just to go deep, but to win outright.

In the same raw interview, the 3-time GS winner Aryna Sabalenka opened up about her deep hunger to conquer grass-court glory, proving she’s a warrior who’s far from finished. “We all have the same goal: to win the tournament,” she said. “I’ve built a lot of self-confidence over the years, but at the same time, I’ve realized it has nothing to do with self-confidence. It’s about how willing you are to go out on the court and compete, even when things aren’t going so well. It’s about how willing you are to go out there and fight for what you want.”

To be honest, the grass under her feet holds its own story, a story filled with near triumphs and painful disappointments. At Wimbledon, the All England Club’s crown has remained elusive for the Belarusian, with her best runs ending in the SF in 2021 and 2023. Nevertheless, her 64.15% win rate on grass, a 34-19 record, speaks volumes about her ability to conquer the surface when it matters most.

And as the calendar races toward Wimbledon, Sabalenka finds herself in Germany, dialing in her form at the Berlin Open. “There are not many opportunities to feel the grass before Wimbledon,” she said, making it clear this warm-up is more than just practice,  it’s a decisive piece of her quest for glory. Her campaign in the German capital starts tomorrow against Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova.

Now, as Sabalenka steps into Wimbledon with a cleaner slate and clearer purpose, the outside noise isn’t fading, especially with experts already locking her and Gauff into the center of title predictions.

Wimbledon odds stir debate as Sabalenka, Gauff lead the pack

Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick didn’t hold back when reviewing the latest Wimbledon odds, questioning why Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff sit ahead of names with stronger grass-court records. While Sabalenka leads the chart at +250, followed by Gauff and Elena Rybakina at +500, Roddick wasn’t convinced the projections fully reflect surface-specific strengths.

As for Gauff, speaking on Tennis Channel, Roddick voiced doubts about how her clay-court momentum would translate to SW19. “She’s confident coming off of Roland Garros…. But the book on Coco hasn’t changed because she’s won Roland Garros,” he said. “She’s so good at what she does, but the entry point to the forehand with pace is still going to be the thing that people try to do against her consistently. The easiest surface to do that on, in my opinion, against her, is on grass.” Despite Gauff’s three fourth-round exits at Wimbledon since her 2019 debut, bookmakers have kept her ahead of proven grass performers.

Sabalenka wasn’t spared either, despite having made the semifinals at SW19 in both 2021 and 2023. Roddick’s frustration stemmed more from omission than inclusion, highlighting the complete absence of last year’s finalists, Barbora Krejcikova and Jasmine Paolini. “Like these odds, what the hell are we doing?” he exclaimed. “We have no Paolini. We have no Krejcikova. We’ve just deleted last year’s final.”

 Despite the scrutiny, both Gauff and Sabalenka enter with high expectations, one trying to prove she belongs in grass conversations, the other chasing the one Slam that’s still out of reach.