Aryna Sabalenka has apologised and denied that she insulted Elina Svitolina after a viral clip showed her swearing during her WTA Finals defeat by the Ukrainian. The video, showing the world number two angrily gesturing and swearing in Russian during her 6-3 3-6 6-1 loss, was posted on social media on Saturday. Some commentators interpreted the Belarusian's remarks as an insult towards Svitolina or Ukrainians in general.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Sabalenka wrote that "my comment was not directed at Elina" and that she had been frustrated by a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering her mistakes. "I reacted emotionally in the moment," the 28-year-old said. "That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologise to anyone I offended." She added that Svitolina had played a great match and wished her all the best for the rest of the tournament.S1S2

The sound in the clip is inaudible, and some social media users claimed to lip-read an insult in Russian, though their interpretations of her exact words differ and could not be independently verified. The clip drew strong reactions, including from Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushka, who called the behaviour "absolutely unacceptable" on X and demanded that Sabalenka be suspended from all WTA-sanctioned tournaments. The WTA had not commented on the incident at the time of writing, and Svitolina made no reference to it after the match.S2

Svitolina's win on Friday sent Sabalenka out of the tournament, with the Belarusian visibly angry with herself throughout, letting a lead slip in both the first and third sets. Ukrainian players have a long-standing policy of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian players because of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and Svitolina did not shake hands with Sabalenka at the end of the match, as is her practice with all Russian and Belarusian players.S1S2