Chris Evert admits she was surprised by Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match comments following her French Open final defeat to Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka was quick out of the blocks in the women’s showpiece match at Roland Garros as she went a double break up in the first set, but her American opponent pulled it back and took it to a tie-breaker before the world No 1 eventually claimed the set.
The conditions started playing havoc with the wind having a big impact and Gauff upped her game even further as she started to dominate.
The world No 2 eventually claimed a 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 victory to secure her second Grand Slam title following her success at the 2023 US Open where she also beat the Belarusian.
Sabalenka was very emotional during the post-match presentation interview as she described it as her “worst final”.
Later in the press conference, she again lamented her performance, saying: “It was really honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in the last, I don’t know, in the last I don’t know how many months.
“Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.”
Sabalenka ended Iga Swiatek’s title defence in the semi-final with a three-set win and she also stated that the Pole “would have won the final”.
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She added: “I don’t know, I think Iga – if Iga would win me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win.
“Yeah, it just hurts. Honestly hurts. I’ve been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did, that’s hurt.”
Former world No 1 Evert was unimpressed by the three-time Grand Slam winner’s comments as she felt Sabalenka should have come up with a gameplan to counter the conditions.
“When you heard Aryna say it was the worst [final], I was like wow! You have to adjust,” the 18-time Grand Slam winner is quoted as saying by The Tennis Gazette.
“It’s the same on both sides. You have to make that adjustment. If you are number one in the world or number two in the world, you should know how to play on windy days by now.
“It was swirling. Well, you know what, then you really have to get ready and prepared for the shot quicker and you have to be aware of that and make the court smaller and not go for the lines all the time if it’s that windy.
“It was the same for both of them and I think Coco really adapted to it much better.”
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