"You feel like you're embarrassing your team" - Aryna Sabalenka's coach reveals her inner turmoil during French Open final heartbreak

Aryna Sabalenka's coach, Jason Stacy, opened up about the Belarusian's inner turmoil after falling short of claiming the French Open title. The latter is currently in her off-season.

Sabalenka had an impressive 2025 season. She reached the finals of almost all the Grand Slams, except for Wimbledon, where she couldn't advance further than the semifinal round. She progressed to the final round of the French Open, where she contested against Coco Gauff for the title.

However, the American prevailed over the World No. 1, registering a 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 win. Months after this heartbreak, Sabalenka's coach, Stacy, opened up about the inner turmoil she felt after losing the match. He sat for a conversation with Dr. Kristen Holmes, where he revealed how Sabalenka was disappointed with her performance. (34:26 onwards)

"She had finals, finals, finals, finals quarters slam. She played so many matches. Yeah. And when she got to the French Open, she we showed up, she was sick again two years in a row, right? Got some virus, was really sick, fought through those matches."

"So by the time she gets to this final with all this stress, all this pressure, and then some things started changing that she had, you know, couldn't she couldn't adapt to and she, you know, you're just exhausted, you're depleted, and you have all of this stuff happening. You see that you you feel like you're embarrassing your team, you're letting your team down because we've done everything to make sure you can be in the final," said Stacy.

He added:

"So she was even thinking about this kind of stuff and it's just overwhelming and you don't have the energy to, excuse my language, give a s**t like you're just done and you're so frustrated, so overwhelmed that it just takes over. "

Sabalenka won one Grand Slam this year at the US Open against Amanda Anisimova.

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Aryna Sabalenka opened up about her post-match remarks at the French Open

After her French Open loss, Aryna Sabalenka landed in controversy after passing remarks on Coco Gauff. In the press conference, she said that her opponent won the match not because she played well but because she made mistakes.

However, days after making these comments, Sabalenka shared an explanation for her remarks on her Instagram story. Accepting that Gauff played incredibly and it wasn't a good day for her, she said: (as quoted by tennis.com)

"You all know me... I'm always going to be honest and human in how I process these moments. I made over 70 unforced errors, so I can't pretend it was a great day for me. But both things can be true... I didn't play my best, and Coco stepped up and played with poise and purpose. She earned that title. Respect. Time to rest, learn and come back stronger."

Aryna Sabalenka kickstarted her 2025 season by competing at the Australian Open, where she reached the finals but was bested by Madison Keys.