ARYNA SABALENKA corrected a BBC presenter during her on-court interview after booking a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The world No1 overcame Laura Siegemund 4-6 6-2 6-4 in an awkward match on Centre Court.
After the contest, Sabalenka spoke to the BBC’s Lee McKenzie in front of the crowd.
Siegemund, 37, has a quirky game style that she has admitted to being “annoying” for opponents.
With this having been referenced in Sabalenka’s previous press conference, McKenzie brought it up on court, claiming that she had called Siegemund’s game “annoying”.
But the Belarusian, 27, quickly interjected, insisting: “I didn’t say that. No, no no – I didn’t say that.
“They asked the question… she said that she has an annoying game.”
Sabalenka then wagged her finger as she added: “I didn’t say that, just to make that clear.”
When McKenzie pointed out that it was in a “complimentary way” – Sabalenka went on: “It’s not like it’s an annoying game, it’s a smart game.
“She’s really making everyone work against her and going into the match against her you know that you have to work for every point.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a big server, a big hitter, you have to work, run and earn the win.”
In her previous press conference, after being asked about Siegemund’s self-proclaimed “annoying game” – Sabalenka had replied: “Well, it’s tricky. Especially on the grass when all of those shots, like, it just slows down and you have to stay really low and work with your legs a lot.
“Especially on the grass it can be really tricky, her game style.
“Yeah, it’s annoying. But I’ve been facing a lot of tricky players
” I think for me personally, the main thing is like not to over-rush and not to get frustrated by her game, and focus on myself.
“I know that if I’ll be there, if I’ll be focusing on myself and I’ll be fighting for every point, I know that I have enough of variety, I have strong game to handle that tricky shots.”
Having come through her battle with Siegemund, Sabalenka will face either Amanda Anisimova or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semi-finals.
The No1 seed remains the favourite to win the title.
Read the full article here