Sabalenka apologies for outburst during loss to Svitolina

INDIAN WELLS: Aryna Sabalenka apologised on Saturday for her angry outburst during her ​defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals.

Television ‌footage appeared to show the Belarusian swearing during Friday’s round-robin match, with some social media users interpreting her remarks as being directed at Svitolina or ​Ukrainians.

The loss eliminated Sabalenka from the season-ending tournament.

“My ​comment was not directed at Elina,” Sabalenka said in a ⁠social media post.

“I was frustrated with a small group of ​spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally ​in the moment.

“That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologise to anyone I offended.

“Elina played a great match, and I wish ​her all the best for the rest of the tournament.”

Svitolina did ​not shake hands with Sabalenka after the match, maintaining her policy of not ‌doing ⁠so with Russian or Belarusian opponents following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched with Belarus as a staging ground.

Asked about her reaction to Sabalenka’s apology, Svitolina called for mutual respect, ​acknowledging that fans’ ​passions can sometimes ⁠run high.

“We’ve played many times with Aryna. She has her fans, I have my fans,” she ​told reporters after her semi-final win over Linda Noskova ​on ⁠Saturday.

She expressed hope that matches between the two of them would be respected, “because yes, sometimes in some matches that we’ve played, also been ⁠not ​great comments towards me in regards of ​the war.”

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, faces Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Sunday’s ​final.