Roddick defends Sabalenka's attitude after losing the US Open

After losing the 2026 US Open final to Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka has been in the eye of the storm due to her questionable attitude and her difficulties in processing the defeat. The Belarusian tennis player broke a racket and had an incident with a camera operator after the match, whom she asked to stop filming in a rude manner, although Andy Roddick has come to her defense and has shown understanding for the difficult situation that the now former world number 1 is facing.

What Roddick argues is that Sabalenka herself was very cordial during the trophy ceremony despite the situation she was experiencing. It should not be forgotten that this defeat was the last straw in a season where she has not managed to win Grand Slams and has seen Rybakina win two finals against her and take the number 1 spot at the same US Open. Therefore, Andy even finds it logical that she exhibits certain attitudes towards herself.

“People tend to look for any excuse to get upset about something and criticize on their Twitter account. I just think they will look for something. I won’t get upset if you break your own things. I don’t care, as long as you are kind. Could it have been done later? Yes, of course. Will I take it personally because she broke her own thing? No. She has already shown resentment in defeat on other occasions.”

Roddick explains Sabalenka's biggest mistake

In fact, the former world number 1 went further and acknowledged that “there is a double standard. If someone quits after losing the NBA Finals, they criticize them for being too happy, for fist-bumping those they lost to. No, it’s as if they had broken something. It’s like, what do you want? Whatever, let people live. The mistake she made before was disrespecting and publicly diminishing her opponent, but I don’t care what you say to your team."

The only non-negotiable thing for Roddick is respect. It is true that the way she addressed the camera operator was not right, but beyond that, her negative attitudes were directed at herself. "As long as there is a minimum of respect for whom you have played against, for what you have done and for what they have done, if you break a racket, who cares? I can’t imagine being an adult watching that and then going to a social media account and thinking: 'I can’t believe she broke a racket. Come on, what are we doing?'” Andy concluded.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Roddick defiende la actitud de Sabalenka tras perder el US Open