ARYNA SABALENKA narrowly avoided a ballboy as she threw her racquet in a furious outburst.
The world No1 was bidding to win the Wuhan Open for a fourth time after victories in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
However, the 27-year-old came unstuck in her semi-final clash with Jessica Pegula.
It looked to be smooth sailing for Sabalenka as she won the first set 6-2.
But American rival Pegula bounced back with a 6-4 win in the second.
And the 31-year-old then rallied from 5-2 down in the deciding set to dethrone Sabalenka and progress into Sunday’s final against compatriot Coco Gauff.
However, in the 11th game of the deciding set, Sabalenka lost her head when an angled backhand volley drifted just wide with Pegula left stranded.
The raging Belarusian proceeded to chuck her racquet, as it clattered into a bench and bounced back towards the court as she went 6-5 down.
Her throw fortunately avoided hitting a ballboy and cameraman – hitting either of which would have defaulted her from the match – as she immediately held out an apologetic arm.
The Sky Sports commentator was heard saying: “The racquet goes flying and who has she hit there with the racquet?
“That is dangerous territory for Sabalenka, this semi-final has exploded into life in the last 10 to 15 minutes.
“Sabalenka gets a warning for the racquet abuse, but she is lucky it is not more.”
The two tennis stars ended up going into a tiebreak, which was won by Pegula 7-6 (7-2).
Speaking after the clash, which saw an incredible run of 19 Sabalenka tiebreak wins in a row come to an end, Pegula said: “For what I did in the tie-break, I’m just really proud of myself.
“I’ve played so much tennis the last few weeks, so many three-set matches, but I feel like I’m very tough right now and I’m just using that [feeling] as best as I can.”
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