Sabalenka, who was not satisfied with the referee's decision, personally appeared as a "human hawkeye" to attract the attention of fans

Women's tennis world No. 1 Ariana Sabalenka of Belarus has reached the semi-finals of the 2025 WTA Open Stuttgart Open in a controversial match.

Sabalenka, who appears as a "human eagle eye".

On the 20th, Beijing time, Sabalenka defeated Belgian player Elise Mertens, ranked 29th in the world, 2-0 (6-4, 6-1) in the quarterfinals of the major tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany. In this game, Sabalenka refused to accept the referee's decision and personally appeared as a "human eagle eye", which attracted people's attention.

After falling behind 3-4 in the first set, Sabalenka protested to referee Miriam Bligh when her shot was ruled out of bounds. She then took her phone from the team and took a picture of the prints left on the court, which was being held on clay.

Sabalenka was then warned by the Bligh referee for ungentlemanly behaviour, but Sabalenka was unaffected and eventually won the match. Sabalenka, who won the match, expressed her displeasure to reporters after shaking hands with referee Bligh: "The referee's gaze during the handshake was extraordinary, and the handshake was particularly strong. This is the first experience. ”

Ostapenko

Sabalenka will battle Italy No. 6 Paulini, who defeated American rising star Gauff 2-0 (6-4, 6-3), for a place in the final.

World No. 24 Latvian Ostapenko defeated world No. 2 Swiatek 2-1 (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) to advance to the semi-finals. Ostapenko was particularly strong against Swiatek, who won five women's singles titles at a Grand Slam tournament.

As of today, Ostapenko has played Swiatek six times, winning all of them. In addition, in the day's victory, she became the only player to beat Swiatek on grass, hard and clay.

Swiatek

Ostapenko said after the match: "Swiatek is a good player on clay, but I also won the French Open [on clay], so it's the same. Every time I face Swiatek, I'm ready for battle. Ostapenko won the women's singles title at the 2017 French Open, which is her only Grand Slam title so far.