Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs recently shared her thoughts on Aryna Sabalenka’s heated exchange with her coach, Anton Dubrov, during her 2025 WTA Finals match against Jessica Pegula. This exchange led to the Belarusian coach walking out of the playing arena.
Sabalenka and Dubrov have been working together since 2020, and under his guidance, the World No. 1 has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open, as well as the 2024 and 2025 US Open titles.
What Did Rennae Stubbs Say About Aryna Sabalenka’s Heated Exchange With Her Coach?
Sabalenka is the top seed at the 2025 WTA Finals, and she began her campaign by defeating eighth-seeded Jasmine Paolini in her first group stage match, winning with a score of 6-3, 6-1. In her second group stage match, she overcame fifth seed Pegula with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
During the deciding set of her match against Pegula, with the score at 2-1 in favor of the American, tensions rose, and Sabalenka became frustrated. She shouted at her player’s box, which caused Dubrov to leave the arena. After the match, the World No. 1 acknowledged that she “went too far” with her outburst.
In a recent episode of the “Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast,” Stubbs discussed the incident involving Sabalenka and Dubrov. She mentioned that she had never seen a coach walk out of a player’s box during a match.
“Sabalenka decided to give her players’ box a bit of a spray today while being down 2-1 in the third. Gave a bit of a spray to the players’ box, and the players’ box said, ‘See ya later.’ So Anton Dubrov was like, ‘Okay, you’re going to talk to me like that, I’m outta here.’ I have never had a coach leave the players’ box, but I would imagine what it would feel like,” Stubbs said.
The former doubles World No. 1 recalled her own experiences, noting that as a coach, she has been yelled at by players, and as a player, she has expressed her frustrations to her coaches, sometimes regretting her words later, similar to Sabalenka, who also felt remorseful about her actions post-match.
“I’ve had players yelling at me as a coach. I’ve also yelled at my coaches and it’s kind of that moment where when you say sh*t that you probably regret later on which she did in her post match interview. When you know you’ve gone a little too far it’s sort of like makes you go, ‘Oh sh*t I better knuckle down here and try and win this match and stop being a little whiny b***h,’” she continued.
Stubbs pointed out that while she doesn’t know what might have caused Sabalenka’s outburst toward Dubrov, his decision to walk away seemed to help the World No. 1 refocus, allowing her to win the set and ultimately the match.
“I don’t know what he said or did that p*ssed her off but she was obviously upset and then when he left she was probably like, ‘Oh sh*t maybe I went too far.’ It certainly refocused her, because down 2-1, she didn’t lose a game after that; Jess just sort of fell apart,” Stubbs added.
Who Will Aryna Sabalenka Face Next at the 2025 WTA Finals?
Following her win over Jessica Pegula in the second round-robin match at the 2025 WTA Finals, Sabalenka is set to face the defending champion and third seed, Coco Gauff, in the next group stage match.
Leading up to the season-ending tournament, Gauff competed at the 2025 Wuhan Open, where she defeated Moyuka Uchijima, Zhang Shuai, Laura Siegemund, and Jasmine Paolini to reach the final. There, she triumphed over Pegula to win the tournament, claiming her third WTA 1000 title and her 11th WTA Tour singles title.
This year, Gauff is defending her title at the WTA Finals after winning in 2024 by defeating Zheng Qinwen in the final. She began her title defense with a loss to Pegula, falling 3-6, 7-6(4), 2-6 in her opening match. However, she bounced back by defeating Paolini 6-3, 6-2 in her second round-robin match.
Sabalenka and Gauff have met 11 times on the WTA Tour, with the American winning six of those encounters. Their most recent matchup was in the final of the 2025 French Open, where Gauff won with a score of 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4, claiming her first French Open singles title and her second Grand Slam singles title overall.