Sore losers or being authentic? Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka should be cut some slack

Picture this: you’ve just narrowly lost a gruelling three-hour tennis match, in difficult conditions, in the final of one of the biggest tournaments in the world.

Someone then announces your name and hands you a microphone to give a runner-up speech in front of thousands of fans in a packed stadium, and potentially millions more following live on television.

You’re still in your match gear, exhausted, sweating, and trying to process how you let a match of this magnitude slip through your fingers.

But there’s no time to process – there’s a microphone in your hand and you’re expected to set your emotions aside, and be gracious in defeat.

In most sports, you lose a final, you get off court and take some time to yourself before you address the media in a mixed zone or a press conference. In tennis, you do that too, but you must first put on your bravest face and publicly address your opponent and the crowd in a manner that doesn’t paint you as a so-called ‘sore loser’.

Sometimes it’s easy to go through the motions, say the right thing, take some photos with the person who just beat you, and disappear through the stadium tunnels. Other times, it can be very hard.

Either way, the post-loss speech is standard in tennis and it’s one of the many things that make the sport so unique.

Last Thursday, we got to see both sides of the coin during the trophy ceremonies of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal and the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto.

In Montreal, former world No 1 Naomi Osaka fell to Canadian teen sensation Victoria Mboko from one set up in the final. The Japanese star kept things short during her runner-up speech. She said she didn’t want to take up too much time, thanked everyone involved in the tournament and relinquished the microphone. She opted out of her mandatory post-final press conference and later apologised on social media for forgetting to congratulate Mboko in her speech.

Osaka explained she knew she has a history of giving awkward speeches – referencing 2018 Indian Wells and 2021 Australian Open as examples – and “I tried to make my speech as short as possible”.

Over in Toronto, that same evening, Karen Khachanov lost in a deciding-set tiebreak to Ben Shelton in the final. The Russian then shared some kind words during the trophy ceremony.

“I played six hours of tennis in the last two days, I’m a little bit tired to be honest,” said Khachanov. “But first of all, I would like to congratulate Ben and your team.

“I remember I had a conversation with your father I would say three or four years ago in Cincinnati when you got the wild card. And he was asking, you were playing college at the time and I told him, ‘Listen, you beat Casper Ruud, you should give it [the pros] a try’. He should listen to me to be honest,” he added with a laugh.

“Really great success so far, you broke into top 10, you won first Masters 1000 and I wish you the best.”

Tennis fans online drew comparisons between the speeches, and criticised Osaka for not acknowledging Mboko in her short remarks.

Former world No 1 Andy Roddick came to Osaka’s defence in the latest episode of his podcast Served.

“I would rather her be friendly with Vicky Mboko all the time than grandstand in front of a microphone. So I don’t know that either is true, but Naomi’s generally well-liked, polite, everyone likes her. And she doesn’t give a lot sometimes when she’s not ready to give a lot. And that’s fine,” said Roddick.

He noted how tough it can be to be courteous and give credit where it’s due during those runner-up speeches before adding: “If Michael Jordan did that, they would be like, ‘Oh, he’s such a competitor, he can’t get over it’.”

Roddick is not wrong. There can be a double standard when it comes to reactions to such incidents but even if there weren’t, is it fair to demand grace from an athlete in a heated moment of defeat?

Even someone as revered as Roger Federer has had public moments of saltiness in the past – remember his post-semi-final press conference at the 2011 US Open?

The Swiss squandered a two-sets-to-love lead against Novak Djokovic that day and held two match points before he fell in five.

Federer, to put it simply, was very, very mad. Which, frankly, was understandable. Instead of asking sports stars to be gracious in defeat, shouldn’t the ask be for them to just be authentically themselves?

Yes, sportsmanship comes front and centre in a sport like tennis, but the backlash that comes after a moment of poor sportsmanship or a lapse in judgment so often outweighs the incident itself.

When Aryna Sabalenka didn’t give credit to Coco Gauff after she lost to her in the French Open final, and said the American would have likely lost had she faced Iga Swiatek in the championship match, Gauff chose to take the high road because she didn’t want to pile on her opponent, who faced heavy criticism online and in the media.

“I’m not someone to hold a grudge. I was talking to my circle about it. I was like, if she apologises, like, not even publicly, it was just more so privately, I will be fine, and we’ll move on,” said Gauff.

Sabalenka did apologise, both publicly and privately, and said she learnt her lesson. They buried the hatchet three weeks later at Wimbledon and filmed a Tik Tok dance together to prove to fans it was all water under the bridge.

“I did what I did. I get what I deserve, I believe,” Sabalenka told reporters at Wimbledon.

“I was overly emotional and I was completely wrong. It was a tough lesson, but it helped me a lot in so many different ways,” she added in Cincinnati this week.

Gauff gave Sabalenka grace, knowing how difficult it can be to navigate all the emotions after a tough loss.

Top athletes are ruthless competitors; switching that off immediately after a close defeat and finding the right perspective is an incredibly high standard to live up to.

“We all in the end of the day are human beings that have difficult emotions that they have to handle right after they lost a big match,” said Djokovic of the Sabalenka incident.

“Things happen when you’re so heightened with emotions, your blood is running hot. Not always easy to suppress that and put diplomacy ahead, even though I feel like it’s important to pay the respect and acknowledge the success of your opponent that just beat you.”

Danielle Collins also weighed in on the subject during Wimbledon, and noted how fatigue plays a huge factor in how one reacts during those moments.

“They played a long match. It was a hard match. It was an emotional day. And Aryna’s a good, fun person. And I think she was tired at the end of the day,” said Collins.

“Things happen. Life happens. And I do think that athletes and other celebrities are held to a different standard. But, like, we’re not politicians. And we’re also not robots. At the end of the day, we’re just humans.

We’re not politicians. And we’re also not robots. At the end of the day, we’re just humans.

Danielle Collins

“We say things, and sometimes we mess up, and life goes on. And I just think there’s a lot of self-righteousness in our culture. I think people are very quick to critique. And they don’t fully understand what these athletes go through on a day-to-day basis. It’s not just what they see on TV.

“There’s a lot that all of us are dealing with.

“And you know what? Sometimes all of us just need a nap. I’ve said things, and I’ve done things where I’m like, oh, shoot, I just needed a nap. Especially when you’re talking to someone right after, I feel like I can see the light leaving an athlete’s eyes when they get to that point. They’re too tired.”

Frances Tiafoe was impressed by how Sabalenka and Gauff handled their situation but admitted that having two top players beefing wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing.

“I’m happy to see that they turned the page about it. That’s the biggest thing. Because they’re the best players in the world. So those relationships you kind of need,” said Tiafoe.

“But also, it wouldn’t be too bad if they were also back and forth. It kind of would be cool if they didn’t like each other. I go back and forth with that, too. Coco took the higher road. But it would be cool if she took the other road, too,” he added with a laugh.

Sabalenka wasn’t the only one facing backlash this summer. The slew of early upsets at Wimbledon was accompanied by several unwise comments from players who were on the losing end of those matches.

Holger Rune, who blew a two-sets-to-love lead in a first-round defeat to Nicolas Jarry, boldly claimed after the match that “If I play normal, I’m beating him nine out of 10 times, with all respect for Nicolas Jarry. Obviously today didn’t make it a lot easier with my knee, but yeah, it was not great”.

Jarry, who is 1-1 head-to-head lifetime against Rune, did not appreciate such comments and dismissed the notion that saying the right thing in the heat of the moment is a difficult endeavour.

“You have to be smart enough to at least answer some questions. You don’t have to involve too much in the answer, but it’s just questions and it’s just a match and I think we’re old enough to at least tell a decent answer,” Jarry told The National at the All England Club.

“I think you can be very emotional, that’s perfect. Even I, I’ve cried many times, but you still have to remember that it’s just a match and that you’re old enough to control what goes out of your mouth.”

Khachanov was reserved in his judgment when he was asked about Rune’s comments on Jarry. The Russian acknowledged the post-loss emotions can be like “a hurricane in your head” and said it’s always better to take some time before going to press after a match.

He then added: “Maybe Holger really felt like this. I cannot say I agree with that, but maybe he really feels like this, that the next nine matches he will win, OK, let’s see!”

Jarry’s views are fair, and most players should probably be able to take some time to cool off before they go and talk to the press in order to avoid making hasty and emotional comments.

But it’s also worth noting that it is the emotion of sport that touches all fans, it’s why we all tune in. Switching off these emotions to avoid being branded a sore loser can lead to the sport losing a key component of what makes it truly compelling.

In the debate of gracious losers versus sore losers, authenticity should ultimately reign.

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