Aryna Sabalenka was asked to cover up the label on her water bottle during her Cincinnati Open quarter-final clash with Elena Rybakina, in a repeat of the Carlos Alcaraz incident
Aryna Sabalenka became the second tennis star to spark controversy with her water bottle choice at the Cincinnati Open.
Earlier in the week, Carlos Alcaraz clashed with chair umpire Greg Allensworth after being scolded for sipping from reusable Evian bottles, repeatedly insisting: “It’s not my fault.” During her quarter-final battle against Elena Rybakina, the official had to request that world No. 1 Sabalenka who’s withdrawn from the U.S. Open mixed doubles event tear off a label from her bottle because it displayed the name of a competing brand to the tournament’s beverage sponsor.
Rybakina was dominating, capturing the opening set 6-1 and holding a break advantage at 3-2 in the second set, when both players headed to their benches for the changeover.
Sabalenka reached for a drink, and the umpire could be heard requesting tape through her walkie-talkie. It quickly became clear that the tape was needed for Sabalenka’s flask.
The three-time Major champion was drinking from a San Pellegrino bottle, and the umpire wanted the brand marking to be concealed or stripped away.
The umpire approached the top seed and requested that she address the label issue, but Sabalenka couldn’t make out what was being said.
“Say it again?” she inquired.
“Aryna can I just ask you to take [the label] off that bottle? Perfect, thank you, we’re good, that’s fine,” the official responded, as Sabalenka peeled off the paper and kept drinking from the clear green container.
Sky Sports commentator Jonathan Overend drew parallels between the umpire’s peculiar demand and the situation during Alcaraz’s match against Luca Nardi.
He exclaimed: “Oh, it’s the same thing that happened in the Alcaraz match! Can’t have unofficial water. Bizarre situation when Alcaraz was asked to do it, now Sabalenka has been asked to do it.”
World No. 2 Alcaraz became frustrated when the umpire informed him he couldn’t use his Evian drinks bottles during changeovers because it was a competing brand.
“It’s what we’ve been told,” Allensworth said when passing on the instructions to Alcaraz.
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