Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match comments at Roland Garros dominated headlines for weeks.
In a match between the top two seeds, Coco Gauff defeated Sabalenka 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 to win her maiden French Open title earlier this month.
After the match, Sabalenka said the conditions were ‘horrible’ on Court Philippe Chatrier, comments that were widely criticised by fans and pundits.
Frustrated after such a devastating defeat, Sabalenka claimed Iga Swiatek would have beaten Gauff if she had qualified for the final during her post-match press conference.
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She made a poorly received apology the following day, but expressed herself much better ahead of last week’s Berlin Open.
“That was just completely unprofessional of me. I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then,” said Sabalenka.
“But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco [Gauff] afterward, not immediately, but recently. I wanted to apologise and make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her. I never intended to attack her.”
Reacting to Sabalenka’s latest apology, top WTA coach Patrick Mouratoglou weighed in with his thoughts.
Patrick Mouratoglou ‘really loved’ Aryna Sabalenka’s message to Coco Gauff
Talking on Instagram, Naomi Osaka’s coach Mouratoglou gave his verdict on Sabalenka’s message to Gauff.
“Even if she’s the world number one, even if she’s winning so much, even if she can show so much confidence in her behavior, what happened just shows that she’s a human, and it feels good,” said Mouratoglou.
“First of all, I really love that Aryna [Sabalenka] was able to take distance, reflect, and come back with some comments about her final and the commentaries she made about the match against Coco [Gauff].
“We all go through moments when we have too much emotion, and it’s not the mind that speaks, it’s the emotions.”
The Frenchman claimed he had seen those same emotions when working with 23-time Major winner Serena Williams.
“I think it was very emotional for her, I mean it’s a Grand Slam final,” said Mouratoglou.
“The emotional level, and I went through that with Serena [Williams] many times. I know how much emotion it brings, and when you lose and you feel like you had the match in your hands, there is nothing more painful.
“I think she was at the highest possible pain at that moment.”
Mouratoglou explained how Sabalenka’s latest comments spoke to her maturity, and denied any suggestions that they made her look ‘weak’.
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“I don’t think that it’s a sign of weakness to admit that you made a mistake publicly. I think it’s proof of strength,” he said.
“I think it takes a lot of courage, it shows a lot of maturity to be able to express, and to admit it, at some point, shows strength.
“Otherwise, people who are not strong mentally will try to hide their fragility as much as they can.
“She said she was not clever to say that. I would say the opposite. I would say she’s clever enough to realise that what she said in that special moment was wrong.”
Mouratoglou insisted he would rather a player be honest like Sabalenka than act perfectly all the time.
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“To be able to say ‘I was wrong’, and I prefer in a way, someone who’s not fully in control all the time, and always perfect in what they say, because it shows humanity, otherwise you are a robot,” he said.
“They have a press conference after every single match. Sometimes, and especially in super emotional moments, they can say things that maybe aren’t right. It’s not a big deal.”
With the situation resolved, at least from the outside, both Gauff and Sabalenka can now switch their full attention to Wimbledon, where they search for more Grand Slam success.
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon records
Neither Gauff nor Sabalenka has won Wimbledon so far in their careers, and both players remarkably have the exact same record at SW19.
Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon record
Sharing an identical 11-5 record, Gauff and Sabalenka will look to improve in 2025.
Of the two, it’s Sabalenka who has come closest to lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish, reaching the semi-finals on two occasions.
Sabalenka lost in a deciding set two years ago, coming up just short against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Gauff, on the other hand, has yet to reach the quarterfinals, suffering three heartbreaking fourth-round defeats.
Only time will tell if either player can achieve a career-best result at Wimbledon in 2025, but it will certainly be worth tuning in for.
The 2025 Wimbledon tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 30.