“They are fired, they are not my team anymore, it's all their fault” - Cheeky Aryna Sabalenka slays semifinal demons to reach US Open 2023 final

Aryna Sabalenka jokingly contemplated disowning her team after securing a spot in the 2023 US Open final.

On Thursday, September 7, Sabalenka faced a challenging match against the Madison Keys in the semifinals of the New York Major. Despite finding herself a set and a break down, on the verge of making another semifinal exit at Flushing Meadows, she dug deep to turn the match around and clinch a 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) win.

The topsy-turvy nature of the match led to heightened emotions, especially from Sabalenka. The Belarusian exchanged a few heated words with her team and even attempted to throw her racquet at them at one point.

When asked about her frustrations during the match and how her team helped her, Sabalenka humorously said they were responsible for all her troubles and that they were all fired.

“They're fired, they're not my team anymore. It's all their fault,” she said in her on-court interview.

On a more serious note, Sabalenka shed light on how she has worked with her team to manage her emotions during matches.

“No, no. I mean, we spoke a lot after those tough semifinals and we spoke that if I need to throw those emotions, I have to do it. Otherwise, I'll just, I don't know eat myself from the inside. So that's why I was just like yelling, screaming, swearing to them,” she said.

“I mean I think they know that I still love them. It's just for better, you know, it's for a good for a good reason. I don't know guys, it's too late. I am really struggling speaking, especially English,” she added.

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“She's playing unbelievable, crushing everything” - Aryna Sabalenka on Madison Keys

Aryna Sabalenka hugs Madison Keys after their 2023 US Open semifinal match.

Madison Keys came out all guns blazing in the semifinal match against Aryna Sabalenka. She needed just half an hour to take a one-set lead, hitting 12 winners against just three unforced errors to bagel her opponent.

While Sabalenka managed to turn the contest around, she reserved high praise for Keys after the win.

"I was all over the place. I was just, like, what can I do? Like, she's playing unbelievable, just, like, crushing everything," she said at the post-match press conference. "I'm not able to do anything, I had zero control in the match. I was just telling myself, I mean, okay, there is going to be this like this? Somebody going to just play their best tennis?"

"You just have to keep trying, keep staying there, and keep pushing it," she added. "Maybe you'll be able to turn around this game. Lucky me, somehow magically, I don't know how I was able to turn around this game."

Aryna Sabalenka is set to face Coco Gauff in the US Open title match on Saturday, September 9.