Aryna Sabalenka had a moment of poor sportsmanship during her loss to American Amanda Anisimova in the semifinals at Wimbledon on Thursday.
Anisimova won the match at Centre Court of the All England Club in London 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to her first major final. Anisimova received the benefit after one of her shots hit the top of the net and went over to Sabalenka’s side, making it difficult for Sabalenka to return. That allowed Anisimova to win the point, which is something she seemed grateful for and celebrated.
Players typically will hold up their hand in that situation to acknowledge they received a favorable bounce, which Anisimova did not do. As they changed sides, Sabalenka had a message for Anisimova.
“You want to say sorry?” Sabalenka said.
At what point does the tennis community call out Sabalenka for her behavior? Here she is bullying Anisimova for not saying sorry for a net cord point. Let’s not forget her rudeness to Coco Gauff. #wimbledon #tennis pic.twitter.com/IPvlFXou2O
— Tim Tyrrell (@TimTyrrellNY) July 10, 2025
Sabalenka was asked in her post-match press conference about that moment.
“She just wanted I guess badly to win this match, and it’s on her. She doesn’t feel like saying sorry. Barely got that point and didn’t feel like saying sorry for that tricky situation, that’s on her,” Sabalenka said.
"You don't want to say sorry?"
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 10, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka wasn't thrilled with Amanda Anisimova's reaction to a contentious point during their #Wimbledon semi-final clash… pic.twitter.com/W368OIUFuJ
What’s interesting is that Sabalenka feels like Anisimova showed poor sportsmanship. However, the way she went about expressing her frustration with Anisimova in that moment makes Sabalenka look like more of a bad sport.
This isn’t the first time lately that her sportsmanship has come under question.
