Four-time champion Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka had an epic battle in their 2025 French Open semifinal. The opening two sets were of exceptional quality before Sabalenka ran away with the third set to triumph 7-6 4-6 6-0. Beating her rival, who has dominated at Roland-Garros, could be the most important win of Sabalenka’s career.
The memorable contest was not without controversy. Swiatek disagreed with a decision that umpire Kader Nouni made during the second set. Although she refocused during the match, the former world No. 1 strongly criticized Nouni when speaking about the incident afterward.
What Sparked the Controversy?
Sabalenka was serving at 2-4 in the second set. Swiatek missed her forehand return, but she thought the Belarusian’s serve might have been long. She asked Nouni to come down from his chair to inspect the mark. However, the French umpire refused to do so, arguing that Swiatek took too long to request the inspection and also said she was looking at the wrong mark when asking for it. Hawkeye showed the Pole was correct about Sabalenka’s serve landing out.
A visibly frustrated Swiatek argued her case further before eventually walking to the other side of the court to resume playing. The 2022 US Open champion then commented, “That’s not fair,” as she walked past Nouni at the end of the game. Swiatek did not mention the incident again until she was asked about it during her post-match press conference.
Swiatek Slams Umpire After the Match
The four-time French Open champion reiterated that she thought Nouni had been unfair to her. Swiatek also criticized him for checking remarks that Sabalenka requested, despite them being out by a significant margin, but not giving her leeway for a ball that actually was out.
“I don’t think that was fair. Well, he was coming down to check every mark when Aryna wanted to, even when the outs were like that. (gestures with hands) When I had a mark that was out, he was convincing me that I only came there because I saw that my return was out, and I framed the return.”
“I knew from the beginning that it’s going to be out, you know. I didn’t really look at the ball. I just went to check the mark, and I saw the mark was out. I want him to come down, but he didn’t. So I don’t think that was fair, especially when he came down, like, every time Aryna asked him to.”
Swiatek’s frustration about the incident is understandable. Firstly, Sabalenka’s serve was out, and she would have had another chance to win the point if the umpire had inspected it. Secondly, Sabalenka serves so powerfully that Swiatek might have needed a few extra seconds to look at the mark after hitting the return.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
