Aryna Sabalenka Fined for US Open Final Outbursts

Aryna Sabalenka has been officially fined $7,500 in total by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the governing body of the US Open. Her outbursts during the women’s singles final against Elena Rybakina resulted in a warning and a code violation. The fine is more symbolic since the amount is quite small compared to the $2.8 million prize money from which it was deducted.

Sabalenka’s Outbursts

The Belarusian athlete’s first outburst occurred during the first set against Rybakina. Right after her serve was broken, Sabalenka became so frustrated that she took a tennis ball and hit it directly into the crowd.

The umpire issued her an official warning for hitting the ball into the crowd, but Sabalenka still afterward hit a ball in anger toward the back of the court. This hit was especially egregious because it almost hit a camera operator.

Although she had displays of anger throughout the showdown, Sabalenka’s next major outburst came immediately after Rybakina won the third set and the match. She shook her opponent’s hand but then returned to her area and smashed a racket repeatedly against the ground. She also yelled expletives at a nearby camera operator before the presentation ceremony began.

Fined by the USTA

Sabalenka was technically fined by the USTA for just one code violation, but both her warning and punishment stemmed from her inappropriate displays of anger. The warning was for ball abuse, which is defined as intentionally hitting a ball into the stands, at someone, or kicking it away in frustration.

The code violation that Sabalenka was actually fined for was racket abuse, which is defined as smashing, throwing, or breaking a racket in anger while on the court. Audible obscenities also result in a code violation in professional tennis.

Sabalenka’s Defense

During the post-match interview, Sabalenka somewhat defended her outbursts: “I wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside. It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat, so I just wanted to let it go.”

It is also worth noting that Sabalenka did give Rybakina her rightful flowers, saying, “I'm obviously not really happy with the level I played today, but she served incredible. She played really aggressive, great tennis. Yeah, she was simply a better player today than me. I was just out there competing, trying to do my best with what I had there today.”

Past Code Violations

Part of why Sabalenka’s outbursts, especially the one after the match concluded, went viral is because of her history of on-court anger. She even destroyed her racket at the 2023 US Open after she lost to Coco Gauff in three sets, but she waited until she got inside the players’ area.

Sabalenka also threw her racket early last year after she lost the Australian Open women’s singles final to Madison Keys. Her past outbursts have, however, generally received online criticism or in-match code violation warnings instead of resulting in substantial fines.

Other Players Exempt

Some online critics have noticed that some other famous players did not receive a fine for unsportsmanlike conduct at this year’s US Open. The Williams sisters were not fined for skipping the traditional mandatory post-match interview after their first-round exit and neither was Novak Djokovic, although the Serbian player did do a small press briefing near his locker after his own first-round exit.

However, 10 other players were also fined after the 2026 US Open for racket abuse. Another 10 were additionally fined for other code violations, including audible obscenities, general unsportsmanlike conduct, and a rare instance of poor first-round performance.

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