Aryna Sabalenka swore again after losing to Emma Navarro in Indian Wells.
Aryna Sabalenka questioned why she was “always swearing” two days after she received a warning for her language during her match against Emma Raducanu. The world No. 2 was penalised for saying “f*** this s***” on Monday and repeated the phrase three times in her post-match press conference. And she pulled herself up for swearing again after losing to Emma Navarro in the round of 16.
Aryna Sabalenka’s Indian Wells campaign came to an end on Wednesday as she crashed out to world No. 23 Navarro 6-3 3-6 6-2. The Australian Open champion had already been pushed in the desert, saving four match points in her opening match against Peyton Stearns while Raducanu also proved a challenge in her last outing.
The second seed still got the job done in straight sets but she was made to work, saving nine of Raducanu’s 10 break points. The Brit got one break back in the middle of the second set as Sabalenka started to unravel, and the Belarusian was warned when she swore in frustration.
She was back at it in her post-match press conference on Wednesday, though this time it wasn’t in anger. After her time in Indian Wells was cut short, Sabalenka was asked if there was a particular tournament that she had her eye on winning.
“I don’t want to talk about that, because as soon as you say something, it will never happen. I believe in that s***,” she replied, before picking up on her choice of words. The 25-year-old quickly added: “Why am I always swearing? Jesus Christ.”
It comes after another x-rated press conference in which Sabalenka addressed her warning from the umpire after beating Raducanu 6-3 7-5. The world No. 2 had been seen speaking with the chair official immediately after securing the victory and she was later asked about their conversation.
Sabalenka explained: “After the match? Yeah, I just told her, like, Come on, you could just avoid that warning. It wasn’t that bad. Yes, there was, like, one specific word, but it wasn’t, like, I didn’t forward it to her.
“I was just, like you’re pissed and you’re just, F*** this s***. I was just, like, Come on. You could have, like, ignored that.” Laughing, Sabalenka kept on going. “Did I really say that, F*** this s***? I did it again. Well, f*** this s***.”
