Aryna Sabalenka has recently been subjected to backlash over her controversial remarks about her loss to Coco Gauff in the 2025 French Open final, with model and television personality Ubah Hassan also taking a jab at the World No. 1. Hassan is well known for featuring in The Real Housewives of New York City reality television series.
Despite entering the French Open final as the favorite after her win over three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals, Sabalenka suffered a heartbreaking 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Coco Gauff and failed to win her first title at the claycourt Major. Apart from the defeat itself, the Belarusian was especially dismayed over her poor performance, as she racked up 70 unforced errors.
In her post-match press conference, Aryna Sabalenka went so far as to say that she handed Coco Gauff the win with her error-prone display and lamented playing the “worst final” of her career.
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"I think she won the match not because she played incredibly, but because I made all those easy ball errors," Sabalenka
Sabalenka also came under fire for suggesting that Iga Swiatek would've defeated Gauff in the final if she had made it past the semifinals.
"That hurts. Especially when you've been playing really good tennis all week. If Iga had beaten me the other day, I think she would have gone out today and gotten the win. It just hurts. I've been playing really well, and then in the last match, to go out there and do what I did, it hurts," she added.
Ubah Hassan was not impressed by Sabalenka's remarks and took a brutal dig at the World No. 1 with a taunt about "lip filler."
"No mistake was made, darling your lip filler just got in the way of your vision.🙄," Hassan commented.
Aryna Sabalenka has also received strong criticism from Serena Williams' former coach Rennae Stubbs, who lambasted the Belarusian for not giving due credit to Coco Gauff after the final.
"I'm going to give Aryna Sabalenka the benefit of the doubt" - Coco Gauff responds to Belarusian's controversial remarks after French Open final
Coco Gauff recently responded to Aryna Sabalenka's controversial remarks while appearing on Good Morning America after her 2025 French Open triumph. Although she previously called Sabalenka's comments "unfair," Gauff said she would give the World No. 1 the benefit of the doubt because of the emotional occasion.
Nevertheless, the American pointed out that she had forced Sabalenka into making her many errors during the match.
"I was a little bit surprised about the comments and everything, but I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it was just an emotional day, an emotional match, and every time I play Aryna, she's a fighter," Coco Gauff said.
"She's a tough opponent. I think we're like 6-5 in the head-to-head, so it's very close. But yeah, I think I had to force her to play that way and make a lot of balls and put those balls in the court, so, yeah," she added.
Amid all the criticism over her remarks, Aryna Sabalenka issued a statement clarifying the intent behind her comments and asserted that Coco Gauff "fully deserved" to win the French Open final.
