A whopping '73.5 billion won' jackpot → "Give me more money" → 'Controversial sheer outfit'... The world No. 1's hollow humiliation... 'Again' a failure to control anger, 'What on earth is going on?'

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

Aryna Sabalenka (28, Belarus), the face of women's tennis who had constantly been in the spotlight for her rough behavior and harsh remarks both on and off the court, as well as a prize money boycott controversy, suffered the humiliation of being eliminated in the group stage at the season-ending championship, bringing her 2026 season to a hollow close.

The British media outlet 'BBC' reported on the 14th (Korean time), "Sabalenka's season ended disappointingly with a loss to Elina Svitolina at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals." The report added, "As her chance of advancing to the semifinals slipped away, Sabalenka vented her frustration by smashing her racket and sitting on the floor behind the court."

Sabalenka suffered a decisive defeat in the final group stage match held that day against Svitolina (Ukraine), losing 1-2 in sets (3-6, 6-3, 1-6) after a full-set battle. After dropping the first set, she took the second to level the score, but failed to maintain her early lead in the third set and conceded six consecutive games, leading to her own downfall. This marked her second consecutive loss, following her defeat two days earlier against 19-year-old newcomer Mirra Andreeva, who stole the final 11 games in a row.

This is the first time since 2021 that Sabalenka, who had reached the tournament stage of this event for four consecutive years, failed to advance to the semifinals. Notably, it marked her first year without a single major championship trophy since 2022. She reached the finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open but settled for runner-up status. Despite recording the highest win rate on tour (81%, 47 wins, 11 losses), she bowed her head at the season's final stage.

Assessments suggest that this hollow end to the season is a continuation of Sabalenka's decline and off-court antics that persisted throughout the year. Following her loss to Elena Rybakina in the US Open final last September, which cost her the world No. 1 ranking she had held for 99 weeks, Sabalenka smashed her racket and hurled insults at a cameraman who was filming up close, putting herself at risk of a hefty fine.

Her antics did not stop there. According to the British 'Daily Mail' and other outlets, she faced criticism for wearing a provocative sheer outfit that revealed her underwear during a match, yet she pushed back by saying, "What do I care what others think?" She also took heavy criticism for poor emotional control, such as roughly tossing her racket to a ball kid and hurling abuse at heckling spectators. In particular, despite earning a massive total of 36.3 million pounds (approximately 73.5 billion won), she incited a player boycott over dissatisfaction with the revenue distribution at major tournaments, drawing fierce criticism from fellow stars such as Iga Swiatek and Emma Raducanu.

Sabalenka, who had wavered after failing to reach the semifinals for the first time in her career at last month's Wuhan Open, continued to crumble and collapse at the WTA Finals, which serves as the year-end summary of the season.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original