Coco Gauff breaks silence on Aryna Sabalenka apology after 'things went too far'
Coco Gauff has spoken out on Aryna Sabalenka's apology ahead of Wimbledon, with the pair seemingly ending their feud after the Belarusian's controversial French Open final comments
Coco Gauff has politely but firmly disagreed with Madison Keys' stance regarding Aryna Sabalenka's remarks after the French Open final. Sabalenka faced backlash for suggesting her loss was due more to her own errors than Gauff's play.
The Belarusian athlete has since expressed regret both in private and public, acknowledging her words were the result of post-match emotions. Clips from Wimbledon on Friday show the athletes have moved past the incident.
Sabalenka addressed the issue, reflecting on the situation: "I've always been really good with Coco. Honestly, I didn't really want to offend her. I was just completely upset with myself, and emotions got over me. I just completely lost it. I did what I did. I get what I deserve, I believe. It was a tough time for me. The lesson is learned."
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She added insight into her personal growth from the experience: "Honestly, I'm kind of glad what happened to me at Paris, because I was able to learn a lot. I was able to sit back and be open to myself, not just to ignore some things. I think I realised a lot of things about myself in those last stages of the tournament. I really hope it will never happen again."
Meanwhile, Keys, who had beaten Sabalenka at this year's Australian Open final, stated that she believed her fellow player would not have taken Sabalenka's post-match comments to heart. She explained: "Things just kind of come out and you don't necessarily mean them fully. Then there is other times where you feel very disappointed in yourself because you didn't play to the level that you expect yourself to."
Keys also stated, "I think sometimes those are kind of hard moments to navigate, and especially if there is a microphone in front of you. I think sometimes we say things that we wish we could take back. Again, I don't think Coco cares."
However, Gauff revealed in her pre-Wimbledon comments that she had, in fact, been bothered by Sabalenka's words and that the apology could have come sooner, making her consider responding.
She confessed, "It was very weird. I'm transparent. At first, it was a little tempting [to respond] just because the apology did come a little bit later."
She explained, "I thought it [the apology] was going to come pretty quick. There's obviously temptation. I wouldn't be lying, but I don't know, I just want us to be kumbaya, live happily, hakuna matata, and be happy here."
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Her decision not to respond was driven by a desire not to perpetuate negativity. She said, "I didn't want to fuel more hate. I'm not the person that will fuel hate in the world. I think people were taking it too far. It wasn't even more holding someone accountable. It was just really like targeting and saying a lot of things that I felt like were not nice. I didn't want to fuel that more."
Gauff remarked: "It was just water under the bridge. I know Aryna. I felt like before that we got along pretty well anyway before all that happened. It wasn't very hard to accept that apology."
In the opening round at SW19, Sabalenka is set to go head-to-head with Canada's Carson Branstine, while Gauff will take on Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska. Should they both advance through the tournament, the top-seeded duo could clash in the ultimate showdown - the final.
