Aryna Sabalenka got 'really angry' as coach walks out on her mid-match

Aryna Sabalenka said she got "really angry" with her coach, Anton Dubrov, before he walked out in the middle of her second round-robin match at the WTA Finals. The world No. 1 grew frustrated during a tight contest with Jessica Pegula and started venting towards her box, prompting Dubrov to get up and leave in the third set.

But Sabalenka regrouped to seal a 6-4 2-6 6-3 victory and still has a chance to make it out of the group stage and into the semi-finals of the season-ending event. The four-time Major winner later admitted that she was probably too hard on Dubrov, though she was also stressed in the moment.

Sabalenka had already beaten Jasmine Paolini in her first match of the week in Riyadh, but she needed a straight-set victory over Pegula to secure a spot in the semi-finals.

She was unable to get it done, as Pegula won the second set and then went up an early break in set three before the No. 1 seed turned things around. It was still a struggle for Sabalenka, who clashed with her team before her coach left the box.

The Belarusian was later quizzed over the tense exchange and told Tennis Channel: "Maybe I went a little bit too much on Anton, we're going to probably - if he's still here - we're going to talk, but I don't know where he is.

"But yeah, I went a bit too much. I was so frustrated inside of me and I was just trying to let it go, probably I went too far - not probably - I went too far."

Although Sabalenka was upset with Dubrov during the match, she thought he made the right call by leaving her to it. "Honestly, I think it was the right move from him to probably just let me be on my own," she added.

"I don't want to say it the way I wanted to say, but he really upset me and I was really stressed and angry on him, and it really helped me to pull out such tennis."

The world No. 1 will now face Coco Gauff in their last round-robin match - a rematch of the French Open final. The American came from a set down to beat Sabalenka at Roland Garros, and the Belarusian sparked backlash with her post-match comments.

Sabalenka suggested that Gauff won because she had hit too many unforced errors, and that Iga Swiatek likely would have been able to defeat the world No. 3.

But she later apologised to Gauff, and apologised publicly for her remarks, and there's no bad blood between the pair.

Gauff is the defending champion at the WTA Finals and has a 1-1 record in the group stage this week, having lost to Pegula but beaten Paolini.

Sabalenka, Gauff and Pegula are all still in contention to advance out of the group and into the semi-finals. The outcome will depend on their results on Thursday, as Pegula meets Paolini.