"I knew I was going to double fault": Aryna Sabalenka explains controversial halt of serve against Kostyuk

The quarterfinal match between Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk at the Madrid Open was marked by a controversial moment in the second-set tie-break when the world No. 1 decided to stop playing at a crucial point in the match.

The Ukrainian had saved a match point against her when she was down 5-6 in the third set with Sabalenka serving. Kostyuk managed to break and sent everything to a tie-break, where the controversy unfolded. Sabalenka was down 4-5 and it was her turn to serve after missing her first serve.

Minutes earlier, rain had started to fall on the court, but as it intensified, Sabalenka decided to leave the court and go to her bench to wait for the rain to pass. This caused discomfort for Kostyuk, who seemed close to winning the tie-break, at a time when both were struggling to win their service points.

The world No. 23 had complaints against the chair umpire. "She was waiting for five minutes to serve! And then she started to serve again—how is this possible? Why is it first serve again?" Kostyuk said.

"But wait, she stopped by herself—nobody stopped her. It was like two minutes when she served first time and then she stopped. She could have served ten times, and she voluntarily stopped. You told her she has to keep going and she stopped by herself again, by herself. She said 'I do not serve.' Nobody stopped her," Kostyuk added.

Upon returning to the court, Kostyuk secured a mini-break and went up 6-4, with two set points ahead. However, she couldn't close out the set, and Sabalenka managed a comeback to seal the victory 7-6(4), 7-6(7).

In the post-match press conference, the 3-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka commented that the conditions were 'impossible' for her to serve. "Oh my God...! Serving while the rain was falling was impossible. I tried with the first serve, but I realized that I had to stop because the water was getting into my eyes. It was impossible. I knew I was going to double fault, and I didn't want that to happen, so I decided that the game couldn't continue. I'm glad I did it," Aryna Sabalenka said.