"My heart aches for Aryna Sabalenka... This is atrocious" - Fans react to Belarusian flag being waved at Miami Open during women's final

Tennis fans were left divided by several Aryna Sabalenka supporters waving the national flag of Belarus during the women's singles final of the 2025 Miami Open. The supporters waving the flags were later issued a warning by the prestigious hardcourt event's courtside security personnel.

During the first set of the 2025 Miami Open women's singles final between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, the former won a decisive point in the sixth game. The reigning WTA No. 1 briefly celebrated winning the point, which leveled the score at 3-3. This prompted some of the three-time Major winner's fans courtside to start waving Belarusian flags.

After Sabalenka won the next game to take a 4-3 first-set lead, the WTA 1000 event's security intervened and warned the fans in question not to wave the flags. Watch the controversial moments below:

For the most part, tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) were polarized by the developments. Some expressed their empathy for Aryna Sabalenka and some also suggested that the authorities were wrong to warn the supporters about their use of the flags.

"My heart aches for Aryna, it can’t be easy being from a country associated with war and not feeling that patriotic feeling that comes with being an amazing player from a “non-popular” country. This is atrocious absolutely but I can’t help but feel for her," a fan wrote.

"Absolutely ridiculous that the flags were removed," commented another.

"It was great to see some Belarus flags at the @MiamiOpen today but unfortunately appears they were removed shortly afterwards. Tennis is a global sport and this week we've seen loads of Brazilian flags, USA Flags, Italian flags and many more. Why aren't Belarus flags allowed?" asked one.

However, there were others who were blatantly critical of the flags being waved.

"How is this allowed?" one fan questioned.

"I was appalled to see these flags being waved around," another stated.

"Shame on @WTA and @MiamiOpen for not taking action against these terrorist supporters!" yet another fan chimed in.

Aryna Sabalenka eventually went on to register a 7-5, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula to clinch the Miami Open title for the first time in her career. The win also marked the Belarusian's 19th WTA Tour-level singles title.

Players from Russia and Belarus have been participating as neutral athletes across all ITF, ATP and WTA tournaments, including the Majors, in recent years. This stemmed from Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, with the wide majority of the tennis fraternity siding with the latter.

Belarus continues to remain an ally of Russia in the ongoing conflict. As a result, there's considerable scrutiny on the use of both Russian and Belarusian flags across tennis events. Notably, in 2022, Russian and Belarusian players were banned from participating at that year's Wimbledon Championships. The suspension was later lifted from the 2023 edition of the grasscourt Major.

In 2023, Sabalenka spoke up on multiple occasions regarding her own personal stance on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"If I could stop the war, I would" - Aryna Sabalenka in 2023

Aryna Sabalenka (Source: Getty)

During a 2023 Australian Open press conference, Aryna Sabalenka admitted that the bloody conflict between Russia and Ukraine weighs heavily on her mind. However, she concluded by suggesting that she is no position to bring the conflict to an end.

"Well, I would say that of course it affect me a lot. There was tough and it's still tough. But I just understand that it's not my fault. Like, I have zero control. If I could do something, of course I would do it, but I cannot do anything," Sabalenka said.

She echoed similar sentiments later during a 2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart) press conference. This time around, she briefly spoke about the critics who take offense to her presence on the WTA Tour because of her Belarusian identity.

"If they feel better by hating me, I'm happy to help them with that. They can do that. But the rest, like, if I could stop the war, I would do that, but unfortunately it's not in my hands and it's not under my control," she said.

Aryna Sabalenka will resume training for the imminent European claycourt season after taking a short break following her title triumph in Miami.