Fresh Off Coco Gauff Drama, Aryna Sabalenka Sparks Bold Verdict Amid Berlin Controversy

No matter what, be it with her incredible title triumphs or getting involved in controversial moments, intentionally or unintentionally, Aryna Sabalenka has this unique ability to make the headlines time and again. For instance, take her QF match at the 2025 Madrid Open against Marta Kostyuk. In the second set, which went to a tie-break, Sabalenka, serving at 5-4, missed her first serve. However, instead of taking her second, the Belarusian approached umpire Jennifer Zhang, complaining that she couldn’t continue on account of the rain. And while she stepped back onto the court to serve again as a result of her concerns being dismissed initially, she did not hit the ball across the court and returned to the umpire.

This time, the umpire agreed to a stoppage in play. But surprisingly for Kostyuk, Zhang also said that Sabalenka would be getting the first serve again when the match resumed. Kostyuk was visibly frustrated. “She was waiting for five minutes to serve, and then she tried to serve again – how is this possible? Why is it first serve? Why is it first serve again?” she said. And when the match did resume, the Belarusian won the tie-break to prevail 7-6(4) 7-6(7). “She (Sabalenka) is never winning a sportsman’s award, that’s for sure,” Kostyuk said, talking to her team during the delay. And now, the Belarusian finds herself in a similar situation. However, this time, it was her opponent, Rebeka Masarova, who forced a stoppage in their R16 match in Berlin. What does the tennis world have to say about this incident?

Following her defeat to Coco Gauff in the final of the 2025 French Open, Aryna Sabalenka started this match at the Grass Court Championship on a positive note by securing the first set 6-2 against the Swiss. However, after that first set, both Sabalenka and Masarova were seen speaking to the supervisor at the net. On one side, Masarova wanted to stop play, while on the other, Sabalenka wanted to continue. Although the World No. 1 claimed that she had no problem in containing this match, the supervisor chose to suspend the match overnight. Seeing this decision, a frustrated Sabalenka gave a sarcastic thumbs-up to Rebeka Masarova.

She was also heard saying, “So you’re stopping the match because she said on that side it’s slippery? I just played two games on that side. She’s just losing the match.” Reacting to this incident during an interview with Tennis Channel, the former tennis pro, CoCo Vandeweghe, said, “This is where I thought things got a little bit strange. Masarova wanted to call the match for wetness, but Sabalenka didn’t. She’s like ‘No, I just played two games on that side, it’s not slippery at all.’ Usually, you go with the world number one and the seeded player, not the lower-ranked player, but you know Masarova got her way on that one. I thought it was a joke call.“

Adding to her thoughts on this incident, even Andy Roddick gave his reaction on the same. He said, “She just wanted the exit door. Because what was happening out there favored Masarova zero. But it’s a tough call for Masarova because you’re not only protecting yourself, pissing Sabalenka off, but then this affects the entire draw, the entire tournament. They’re trying to wedge in one more match. Sabalenka’s obviously not someone you can hide on the side court. When a match starts there, it has to finish there. There was about an hour of daylight left.“

Further on, Roddick also went on to reflect on a similar moment from the past when he did something similar to what Rebeka Masarova did yesterday. But having said that, he admitted what he did was completely wrong. Interestingly, this incident comes just days after another controversial incident following her defeat to Coco Gauff at the French Open final.

Following her defeat to the American, Aryna Sabalenka was heard saying, “I think she (Gauff) won the match not because she played incredible, but because I made all those mistakes.” She also claimed that she if Iga Swiatek had won the SF match against her, then the Pole could have easily gotten a win in the final. These comments from Sabalenka received major backlash in the tennis world. In fact, Andy Roddick said, “I didn’t really like what she did in the post-match presser.” Even Rennae Stubbs was a bit surprised by these statements coming from someone like Sabalenka.

However, later on, she issued an apology to Coco Gauff, saying she regrets what she said in her post-match interview. And also stated, “I wanted to apologize and make sure she knew she deserved to win the title and that I respect her a lot.” Amid all these controversies, this tournament in Berlin serves as a major preparatory stage ahead of Wimbledon. Who is going to be her probable opponent if she wins this match against Masarova?

Aryna Sabalenka’s probable opponents at the pre-Wimbledon event

Aryna Sabalenka has already won three titles this season and has a win-loss record of 40-7. But on the grass courts, she has a win-loss record of 34-19. That being said, she has reached the SF in Wimbledon twice (2021,2023). If she can come up with a solid performance in Berlin, this will give her a massive boost in confidence ahead of Wimbledon.

Talking about her upcoming hurdles at the Grass Court Championships in Berlin, if Sabalenka wins this match against Masarova, then she might face Elena Rybakina in the QF, and her probable opponent in the SF could be Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian has been in good form recently, and she defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-1,6-3 in the R16. Winning that challenge against Jabeur would mean a possible re-match of the French Open final against Coco Gauff in the final in Berlin.

How optimistic is Aryna Sabalenka with her chances on grass? “I love the grass, especially after the clay court tour. There, you have to fight hard for every point, but on grass, everything moves a bit faster, and that’s something I love. The calendar is very tight, hardly any time to recover from Roland Garros, and there aren’t many opportunities to ‘feel’ the grass before Wimbledon.” All she now wants is to make full use of this preparatory stage in Berlin in order to come up with a more successful run at Wimbledon after having already missed two close chances at the previous two Slams in 2025.

What does Andy Roddick have to say about her chances at Wimbledon, though? “Sabalenka is the clear-cut favorite… There is not a person to be bet on more confidently than Sabalenka at Wimbledon.” Even Tracy Austin said that she’s expecting “big things” from Sabalenka at Wimbledon. Do you agree with them?