Marta Kostyuk made a comment about Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s sportsmanship after a controversial moment during the pair\u2019s tense clash at the 2025 Madrid Open.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka<\/a> prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(7) against world No 36 Kostyuk in a pulsating quarter-final encounter lasting two hours and 32 minutes.<\/p>\n The world No 1 saved a set point when Kostyuk served for the opening set at 5-4 and survived three more in the second set tiebreak after failing to convert a match point when serving at 6-5.<\/p>\n With Kostyuk leading 5-4 in the second set tiebreak, Sabalenka asked the chair umpire if play could be stopped due to rain after she missed her first serve.<\/p>\n After the umpire said, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that bad yet to stop. We can still play a bit\u201d, Sabalenka returned to the baseline to hit her second serve, but refused to play after catching her ball toss.<\/p>\n This time, the umpire allowed the match to be paused as Sabalenka returned to her chair, which led Kostyuk to protest as this meant the Belarusian would receive a first serve when play resumed.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was waiting for five minutes to serve! Yeah, and then she tried to serve again \u2014 how is this possible? Why is it first serve? Why is it first serve again?\u201d Kostyuk asked the umpire.<\/p>\n \u201cBut wait, she stopped by herself \u2014 nobody stopped her. It was like two minutes when she served first time and then she stopped. She could have served ten times, and she voluntarily stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t you [who] stopped her. No, wait. First time she came [to the chair umpire], you told her she has to keep going and she stopped again by herself, again. By herself! No, but she said \u2018I do not serve.\u2019 Nobody stopped her. How is is first serve?\u201d<\/p>\n During the delay, Kostyuk talked to her team courtside and could be heard saying: \u201cShe (Sabalenka) is never winning a sportsman\u2019s award, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s impressive Madrid Open record that only Serena Williams can beat<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n 5 sublime Iga Swiatek stats as she reaches Madrid Open semi-finals: ft. Serena Williams & Steffi Graf<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n LMAOOO https:\/\/t.co\/PyGgRZ8IRS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xShuiP5D66<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 \u06df (@904tr) April 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When play resumed, Kostyuk won the point to take a 6-4 lead, but she was unable to convert her set points as Sabalenka held her nerve in a thrilling conclusion.<\/p>\n In her on-court interview, Sabalenka said:\u00a0\u201cThat was a battle. Conditions were incredibly tough. It wasn\u2019t about tennis. It was about how you handle your emotions. I\u2019m super proud I was able to handle myself in such a difficult situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The three-time Grand Slam champion also explained she stopped play because the rain was making it \u201cimpossible\u201d to serve.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God\u2026! Serving while the rain was falling was impossible. I tried with the first serve, but I realised that I had to stop because the water was getting into my eyes. It was impossible,\u201d said the 26-year-old.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew I was going to double fault, and I didn\u2019t want that to happen, so I decided that the game couldn\u2019t continue. I\u2019m glad I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Sabalenka will face another Ukrainian, Elina Svitolina, in the semi-finals in Madrid.<\/p>\n READ NEXT:\u00a0The 9 women with the most WTA clay match wins: Chris Evert with 382, Steffi Graf 6th<\/a> The post WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s rival says she \u2018is never winning a sportsman award\u2019\u00a0after Madrid Open controversy<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Marta Kostyuk made a comment about Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s sportsmanship after a controversial moment during the pair\u2019s tense clash at the 2025 Madrid Open. Sabalenka prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(7) against world No 36 Kostyuk in a pulsating quarter-final encounter lasting two hours and 32 minutes. The world No 1 saved a set point when Kostyuk served for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n
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