“My comment was not directed at Elina”: Sabalenka apologises after her alleged anti-Ukrainian outburst during the Svitolina match goes viral
A clip from her defeat to Elina Svitolina in Indian Wells, in which social media users claim to lip-read an insult in Russian, has drawn calls for sanctions. Aryna Sabalenka says she was reacting to spectators cheering her mistakes, and apologised on Instagram.
Aryna Sabalenka, WTA Finals 2026 | © Zuma / PsNewz
Aryna Sabalenka has apologised for a comment she made during her defeat to Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, but insists it was not aimed at the Ukrainian. In a statement posted on her Instagram story on Saturday, the Belarusian said she was reacting to “a small group of spectators” who were cheering her mistakes.
“I want to clarify something from my recent match that has been circulating online. My comment was not directed at Elina. I was frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment,” she wrote. “That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologise to anyone I offended. Elina played a great match, and I wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament.”
A clip from the match, shared widely on social media, shows Sabalenka swearing during the encounter. The sound is inaudible, but some users, relying on lip-reading, claimed she had insulted Svitolina or Ukrainians in Russian. Their interpretations of her exact words differ, and they could not be independently verified.
Calls for a suspension
The clip quickly drew strong reactions. Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushka called her behaviour “absolutely unacceptable” on X and demanded that she 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.
Svitolina won 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on Friday to reach the semi-finals and knock Sabalenka out of the tournament. The Belarusian, visibly angry with herself throughout the match, let a lead slip in both the first and third sets. As she has done with all Russian and Belarusian players since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Svitolina did not shake hands with her at the end of the match.
