ARYNA SABALENKA was left shocked after being sworn at by a child following victory in her Wimbledon opener.
The world No1 beat Carson Branstine 6-1 7-5 on Court 1 on Monday.
Sabalenka went viral in the build-up to Wimbledon as a video of her swearing during a practice session did the rounds on social media.
After her victory on Monday afternoon, she walked off court and kindly stopped to sign autographs for young fans.
However, she looked “stunned” after an interaction with one child.
Sabalenka was asked about it in her press conference and she said while smiling: “Yeah, he was talking Brazilian-Portuguese, a little cursing stuff.
“It was because of the video of me cursing in the practice went viral in Brazil.
“I replied, ‘You shouldn’t be saying that’.
“Yeah, it was a fun moment.”
The young fan was seemingly a supporter of Brazilian 18-year-old Joao Fonseca, who took to Court 1 after Sabalenka’s win.
And he defeated British star Jacob Fearnley in straight sets.
As for Sabalenka, she will face Marie Bouzkova in the next round.
The Belarusian is used to cruising through matches in no time and was asked about women playing best of five matches in the future.
But Sabalenka is against the idea, saying: “I think probably physically I’m one of the strongest ones, so maybe it would benefit me.
“But I think I’m not ready to play five sets. I think it’s too much on the woman’s body.
“I think we’re not ready for this amount of tennis. I think it would increase amount of injuries.
“So I think this is not something I would consider. I’ll let this thing for guys to handle.”
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