"Aryna Sabalenka cheated shamelessly" - Fans divided over Belarusian's shock request to umpire against Marta Kostyuk in Madrid

Fans were divided over Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk's dispute as the Ukrainian had a heated exchange with the umpire over the Belarusian suddenly stopping play due to rain after her first serve during the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.

This, in turn, led Sabalenka to go for another first serve when they resumed play, which bothered Kostyuk as she was 7-6(4) down in the first set and was on a second-set tie-break.

The Ukrainian kept pinpointing that Sabalenka had decided to stop the play, without any instruction from the chair umpire. However, it was also seen that Sabalenka went to ask for permission to pause the game since the conditions kept deteriorating, but the umpire asked her to continue since she didn't feel that the rain was strong enough to hamper the flow of the game.

Eventually, Kostyuk was defeated by Sabalenka in a close battle, which divided the tennis fans over their verdict on the situation. One X user (formerly Twitter) was vehemently against Sabalenka and wrote:

"Refusing to play, Disobeying the chair? Funny the drizzle only got in t way after she lost her first serve. Could Marta ve turned the game around & even won? she was directly affected. Sure media won't say anything, right? Sabalenka cheated shamelessly. A spoiled brat's tantrum," they wrote.

Notably, a user took Aryna Sabalenka's side and explained how the umpire agreed to the rain creating an issue in the match.

"Even the umpire agreed that Sabalenka was right to stop. During the conversation with Kostyuk, she admitted that the rain was coming down harder," the user opined.

A user took a diplomatic tone on the situation and pointed out that it was an umpiring issue.

"I'm with Marta Kostyuk on this one, player should not be able to unilaterally decide to stop playing after the first serve after receiving instructions from the chair umpire to carry on. Sabalenka will resume later with a first serve at a critical stage of this match. Weak umpiring," another user mentioned.

Here are some more fan reactions:

"Say what you want about Sabalenka, but she cheated there and that was unfair. She already missed the first serve and should not be allowed to restart," wrote an enraged fan.

"Water and clay don't mix, umpire wasn't thinking straight here. I support Aryna, no player should be forced to self-sabotage," wrote a fan in support of Sabalenka.

"Rain was falling into her eyes while attempting to serve & she couldn’t serve! Then when asked by Umpire to continue, rain started falling even heavier! Opponent’s argument was completely invalid and Sabalenka made the right decision to stop!" wrote another.

Aryna Sabalenka will take on Elina Svitolina in the semifinals of the Madrid Open.

---

Aryna Sabalenka to face Elina Svitolina in semifinal clash

Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid - Source: Getty

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is set to take on Elina Svitolina in an eagerly anticipated semifinal clash at the Madrid Open on May 1, 2025. The Belarusian has had quite a start to the tournament as she has eased past all her opponents that came in her way. On the other hand, Svitolina has also displayed some great performances and has advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set throughout the tournament.

Having faced each other five times ahead of this, Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 4-1, with their most recent clash being at the Cincinnati Open last year. A combination of Sabalenka's consistency and Svitolina's fearlessness is set to make this match a high-voltage one for tennis fans all across the world.