Aryna Sabalenka let her emotions get the best of her during her loss to Jessica Pegula, when after a missed shot, she threw her racket so forcefully that it nearly hit a ball boy. The scandalous behavior of the world No. 1 has sparked widespread discussion, and now chair umpire Gabriela Załoga has explained in an interview with Sport.pl why the Belarusian star avoided disqualification for such an incident.
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Aryna Sabalenka threw her racket — but escaped disqualification
Sabalenka lost a tense semifinal match at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, 6–2, 4–6, 6–7. Jessica Pegula defeated the top-ranked player in a deciding third set, beating her for the first time in two years. Unable to believe what was happening, Sabalenka lost her composure and erupted in frustration.
She hurled her racket toward the bench, missing both a ball boy and a nearby cameraman by just a few centimeters. She immediately apologized for her outburst, but videos circulating online show how narrowly a serious accident was avoided. That narrow miss is precisely what spared her from a suspension — as explained by umpire Gabriela Załoga.
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Expert explains why Sabalenka avoided disqualification
> “I watched the incident, and I can say it was very close to a disqualification,” Załoga said. “What probably made the difference was that the racket first bounced off the court rather than directly hitting the ball boy, and that no one was injured. If the racket had struck the child, as a chair umpire I would have immediately called for the supervisor to discuss a possible disqualification. Even so, the whole situation looked dangerous.”
The international umpire further clarified that it’s not the chair umpire who makes the final call on a disqualification, but the tournament’s chief supervisor, who would have been summoned to the court in such a case.
Załoga also noted that tennis authorities have a growing problem with players’ behavior and often lack consistency in enforcing rules. She added that financial penalties have little effect on top athletes earning millions on tour. Instead, she suggested that deducting ranking points, as is done in junior tournaments, would be a far more effective deterrent.
