Australian Open; Aryna Sabalenka appears to mock-urinate on runners-up trophy

Aryna Sabalenka and her support team appear to make gestures towards the Australian Open runners-up plate. Photo / Supplied

Aryna Sabalenka has been criticised for appearing to pretend urinate on her runner-up trophy at the Australian Open.

Sabalenka was devastated after suffering a shock 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 defeat by Madison Keys, the No 19 seed, in Saturday’s final. She angrily smashed her racquet during the match and stormed off the court before her post-match media duties.

After the match a video appeared on social media with the caption ‘Let’s all pee on it’ which shows the 26-year-old, her boyfriend Georgios Frangulis and her fitness coach Jason Stacy all laughing while thrusting their hips towards the trophy which was positioned on the floor in the middle of them.

Fans on social media demanded an explanation and public apology for the “disgusting act”. Some accused Sabalenka of “lacking class” and “showing disrespect”.

Sabalenka or her team have yet to provide a response to the video but the Belarusian uploaded pictures to social media which showed her and her team posing with the trophy and she vowed to “come back stronger” after failing to win a third successive Australian Open.

After the match, she said: “I think when you get to the point of finals, it’s trophy or nothing. Nobody remembers the finalist, you know? Nobody put, like, next to the winner, the finalist name.

“At this point, yeah, I go for titles. Of course, I have to be anyway proud of myself with the finals, three finals in a row. That’s something crazy. I hope that next year I’ll come back as a better player, and I’ll hold Daphne [the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup] one more time.”

Sabalenka went on to congratulate her opponent but quickly went back to the locker room and covered her face with a towel as she continued to wrestle with falling short. The result meant Keys, 29, won her first Grand Slam after appearing in her first major final since 2017.