Judy Murray slams the US Open over showing Aryna Sabalenka’s ‘private training room moment’, smashing her racket in a rage after losing the final… but wider angle reveals the full story
Judy Murray slams the US Open for showing Aryna Sabalenka’s ‘private training moment’ where she smashes her racket in anger after losing the final… but a wider angle reveals the whole story
- Aryna Sabalenka vented her anger on a racket after losing the US Open final
- Judy Murray was critical of the moment of raw emotion filmed for TV
- A new angle on the incident shows a Netflix camera crew recording the whole thing
Judy Murray has questioned why footage of defeated US Open finalist Aryna Sabalenka smashing her racket in the dressing room was made public, but a new angle has revealed the full story.
The video showed Sabalenka, who was defeated by Coco Gauff on Saturday, expressing her frustrations after letting victory slip through her fingers after winning the opening set.
The Belarusian calmly walks off the field and puts her bag, with the second-place trophy on it, on the ground.
But then she takes out a racket and hits it hard against the ground four times, expressing her anger after losing the match. Sabalenka then walks to a container and drops the racket into it.
The footage was shown on television and widely circulated on social media, sparking a debate over whether it should have been released.
Beaten US Open finalist Aryna Sabalenka was filmed banging her racket in the practice room after losing to Coco Gauff – leading to criticism of such a raw televised moment
After smashing her racket four times on the hard floor, Sabalenka places it in a container
However, a wider perspective of the incident has emerged, with a camera crew (right) – believed to be from Netflix Break Point – capturing the whole thing
Judy Murray, mother of multiple Slam winners Andy and Jamie, posted on X: ‘These images should never have been made public. A private moment in an empty training room after the disappointment of losing a Grand Slam final.’
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen agreed, replying: ‘100% CORRECT, Judy.’
But it was then pointed out that the original narrow angle of the racket impact failed to engage the camera crew in a corner of the room recording the incident.
It is believed the crew was filming season two of Break Point, the fly-on-the-wall, access-all-areas, Netflix series about elite-level tennis.
Sabalenka featured in the first series of Break Point and it is highly likely that this moment of raw emotion will make the cut for season two.
It led some on social media to claim that the show of rage was ‘planned’ to create good content for the show.
The Belarusian won the first set 6-2 at Flushing Meadows before 19-year-old Gauff won the next two sets to claim her first Grand Slam title.
Judy Murray was among those who criticized the disclosure of Sabalenka’s moment of anger
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen agreed with Murray’s comments on social media
Aryna Sabalenka was in tears on the court after losing the US Open final to Coco Gauff
American teenager Gauff recovered from losing the first set to secure her first Grand Slam title
Sabalenka was in tears on the pitch after the defeat after letting victory slip through her fingers, and let her emotions get the best of her as soon as she returned to the dressing room.
A series of unforced errors allowed the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd to cheer Gauff home for success.
After the match, Sabalenka said: “Most of my time I managed my emotions quite well, congratulations Coco, you played incredibly in the final.”
Sabalenka was involved in another racket misdemeanor earlier at the US Open, throwing it at her coach after a slow start to her semi-final victory against Madison Keys.