Aryna Sabalenka let herself down with her heated antics following Saturday’s US Open final defeat – champions show respect to rivals.That’s the view of nine-time doubles Grand Slam Jonas Bjorkman, who has commented on Sabalenka‘s defeat to Elena Rybakina.Sabalenka has been beaten in two Grand Slam finals by Rybakina in 2026GettyThe 28-year-old was the reigning champion at Flushing Meadows having won her second title in New York in 2025.But she failed to triumph for a third straight year after losing in three sets to Rybakina.It is now two Grand Slam final victories in a row for Rybakina over the Belarusian having beaten her in Australia at the start of the year.The Russian-born Kazakhstani professional now only needs to lift the French Open to complete the career Grand Slam having won Wimbledon in 2022.As for Sabalenka, she has failed to scoop a Grand Slam in 2026 having won at least one in the last three calendar years.And to make matters worse, she has lost her world number one spot to Rybakina – having spent 99 weeks at the top of the pile.How did Aryna Sabalenka react to losing in the US Open final?The Minsk native was unable to control her emotions after being easily dispatched 6-2 in the third and final set.Just as she did after losing to Coco Gauff in the 2023 US Open final, Sabalenka took her frustrations out on her racket.While still on the court, she furiously launched her racket down at the ground, before then having to move away as it bounced up towards her head.And as she got back to her chair, she then smashed her racket twice on the surface, destroying it in the process, while she also told a camera operator to ‘f*** off’.Sabalenka smashed her racket moments after being defeated by RybakinaSky SportsShe then shattered her racket after returning to her chair with the Belarusian still furiousSky SportsWhat has been said about Aryna Sabalenka’s antics?Bjorkman, who won the career Grand Slam in men’s doubles, was left disappointed by Sabalenka’s angry outburst.The 54-year-old believes she should have remained composed and shown respect to Rybakina – only allowing herself to let out any type of anger once she is back in her locker room.Speaking on the Weekend Sports Breakfast show, Bjorkman said: “I think she’s beating herself a little bit because yesterday, that was a great match.“Rybakina came out from the start, from the blocks and played fantastic tennis, and then Sabalenka found her way and started to get back – wins the second set.“And in the end, Rybakina just lifts her level again to win in three sets, so sometimes you just have to reflect and understand that your opponent was better.“I think she put so much pressure on herself that she wants badly to win, but it gets too much because you can’t smash your racket and you can’t go up towards your opponent who just beat you in a Grand Slam final and be that disappointed and then smash the racket even more.View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/USOpen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw“You have to show some respect to the champion; if you go into the locker room, you can smash all the eight or ten rackets you have in your bag.“No-one’s going to see it, but you have to be a big loser, and I think also during everything [presentation] was getting ready, she goes down to her team, she sits there instead of waiting as you normally do for the presentation and everything.“I think she’s not been handling that perfectly, she’s a great player, I think it’s great for her maybe that she’s losing the number one spot because I think now she doesn’t have that pressure.“She’s done it for 99 weeks, which has been remarkable, so consistent.“But I think it’s a good challenge for her now to sort of settle down, go down to two [sets], start sort of looking to get back to number one again.”What has Aryna Sabalenka said about smashing her racket?Speaking of her outburst, Sabalenka refused to apologise for smashing up her racket.Rybakina has now won three Grand Slams, with only the French Open missing from her collectionAFPShe remarked: “It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat.“So I just wanted to let it go, because if I would hold it inside, right now or here or there on the court, I wouldn’t be able to say a word or I would just go not really nice over there.“So I just wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside.”