JUST IN: Sabalenka writes apology to Gauff for ‘unprofessional’ comments after French Open final loss and……

After losing to the American in the French Open final, Aryna Sabalenka claims to have written to Coco Gauff to apologize for her “unprofessional” remarks.

Sabalenka told Eurosport Germany that her comments following her loss to Gauff at Roland Garros this month were incorrect. During her press conference in Paris after the game, Sabalenka implied that her own mistakes were more to blame for the outcome than Gauff’s play.

At the time, Sabalenka remarked, “I don’t think she won the match because she played incredible.” “Just because, from the outside, I made all of those mistakes from kind of easy balls.”

However, Sabalenka now says she regrets those remarks. “That was just completely unprofessional of me,” Sabalenka told Eurosport Germany. “I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I’m just a human being who’s still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco afterward – not immediately, but recently.”

Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the final with 70 unforced errors. Gauff had 30 winners and 30 unforced errors. The Belarusian, the world No 1, said she wrote to Gauff to apologise and “make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her”.

“I never intended to attack her,” Sabalanka added. “I was super-emotional and not very smart at that press conference. I’m not necessarily grateful for what I did. It took me a while to go back and think about it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realised a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?”