"Terrible look & dangerous for people" - Aryna Sabalenka nearly hitting ball kid in anger draws worrying reaction from tennis insider

Aryna Sabalenka recently courted controversy after launching her racket in a ball kid's direction during her semifinal defeat at last week's Wuhan Open. Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg has since asked the WTA Tour to take note of the incident and punish the pros who put their on-court employees in danger.

Tensions rose during the World No. 1's last-four encounter against sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula in Wuhan as both players were at a 5-5 deadlock in the deciding set. After the Belarusian missed a regulation volley to be broken, she threw her racket in frustration near the umpire's chair. Unfortunately, a ball kid was standing nearby and just managed to dodge it.

While Aryna Sabalenka did apologize for her mistake, tennis fans were outraged nonetheless. Ben Rothenberg, who is one of the biggest journalists in the sport, took to X (formerly Twitter) earlier on Tuesday (October 14) to give his two cents on the matter. The American believes that the optics of the 27-year-old's actions were "terrible". Beckoning the ATP and WTA Tours to take "crack down" on any such cases in the future, he also drew attention to Botic van de Zandschulp almost hitting a crowd member during his first-round loss at the Shanghai Masters with a racket throw.

"I am late to this moment, but both tours need to meaningfully crack down on players launching projectiles in anger, it’s a terrible look and genuinely dangerous for people around the courts Sabalenka was lucky this wasn’t much worse, as BvdZ was last week," Ben Rothenberg wrote on X this week.

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

I am late to this moment, but both tours need to meaningfully crack down on players launching projectiles in anger, it’s a terrible look and genuinely dangerous for people around the courts. Sabalenka was lucky this wasn’t much worse, as BvdZ was last week.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, eventually lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-7(2) to Pegula in two hours and 22 minutes, ending her 2024 Wuhan Open title defense in unceremonious fashion. The World No. 1 is next expected to play at the WTA Finals, where she will be gunning for her first-ever year-end championships.

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Taking a look at recent Aryna Sabalenka racket smashes at the Majors

Aryna Sabalenka also smashed her racket on the Wimbledon net this year | Image Source: Getty

For what it's worth, Aryna Sabalenka almost hitting a ball kid with her racket throw marks a rather worrying pattern for the Belarusian. Following her heartbreaking Australian Open final defeat to Madison Keys, the 27-year-old broke into tears and destroyed her racket before the trophy ceremony.

Moreover, Sabalenka's frustrations boiling over are not limited to just the tennis court. In a video that was broadcast by ESPN after she dropped the 2023 US Open final to Coco Gauff, she was seen in the locker room taking some of her rackets out of her bag and smashing her racket to smithereens on the floor.