Aryna Sabalenka was not too pleased during the middle of her U.S. Open semifinal match on Thursday night.
During the No. 2 seed’s highly contested battle with No. 17 Madison Keys, Sabalenka — who wound up winning the match — lost the first set, 6-0, and was in a tight second when she was fed up with herself and her racket.
With the second set at 1-1, Keys went up 2-1 after Sabalenka sent a return volley into the net.
The 25-year-old then walked over the sideline and toward her supporter box before smashing her racket down with some force.
After the smash, she tried to throw the racket into the stands near her coaches, but it didn’t reach the crowd.
“Even that comes up short,” ESPN announcer Chris Fowler joked about the failed toss.
After the match, Sabalenka made light of the theatrics with her coaches during an interview with ESPN.
“They’re fired they’re not my team anymore,” she joked with a laugh. “It’s all their fault. No, no, no. … We spoke that if I need to throw those emotions, I have to do it. Otherwise, I’ll just eat myself from the inside. So I was just like yelling, screaming, swearing to them.
“They know I still love them. It’s for the better, it’s for a good reason.”
After that second-set outburst, the Belarussian turned things around and found another gear.
She took the second and third sets after lengthy tiebreaks to move on to the U.S. Open final.
In the latter tiebreak, she even started to celebrate a few games early but remained composed and closed out Keys, 10-5, to finish out the long match.
Now, she will look for her second singles Grand Slam title this year when she faces another American, Coco Gauff, in the Flushing final on Saturday.
