Jimmy Connors and Brett Haber were discussing the French Open finals weekend, and the topic of Aryna Sabalenka‘s postmatch speech and comments came up.
Sabalenka has come under fire for not being as gracious as we might expect after her French Open loss to Coco Gauff. She talked about her terrible tennis on the podium and followed it up in the press conference by saying that Iga Swiatek would have beaten Gauff.
Gauff handled the whole matter with class, dismissing Sabalenka’s off-the-cuff comments as being emotional and in the heat of the moment after a tense match.
Sabalenka is an emotional player who has no filter, and Connors believes that perhaps players should have time time to process things, maybe even just five minutes, to gather their thoughts.
What Jimmy Connors Said
Jimmy Connors recognizes that fans in the stadium and watching on television want to hear from both players immediately after a tournament final, especially a Grand Slam. They want insight into their thoughts which the players themselves have barely had time to process. Then, people are critical of what they hear.
While he suggests a five minute break, Brett Haber warns that if the delay is too long, fans risk getting cliche comments.
In other sports, the losing team goes to the locker room and has time to process the loss. In most cases, the coach speaks on behalf of the team before their individual press conferences.
Tennis and golf are individual sports where everything is done on the court or course.
Sabalenka walked back some of her comments, giving Coco Gauff the utmost respect. In contrast to how her fellow World No. 1 Jannik Sinner handled his French Open loss to Carlos Alcaraz where he had three match points, it was not a great look for her. She may have to answer for this behavior at some point in the future, and she will have the benefit of time to prepare.
“That was one of the most embarrassing press conferences I’ve ever seen.”@clintonyates on Aryna Sabalenka’s comments after Coco Gauff’s French Open win pic.twitter.com/riGa9H1nzF
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) June 9, 2025
