Aryna Sabalenka rips tournament director, casts doubt on Dubai return

Top-seed Belarussian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka has fired back at the Dubai Tennis Tournament director in a pre-tournament presser on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at Miami.

The tennis GOAT, while clapping back at the Dubai boss’s criticism of her withdrawal from the tournament, said, “I don’t think he showed the best image of himself. Ge crossed the line.”

She continued, appearing to be still fuming, and added, “For me, it’s really sad to see that tournament organizers don’t respect us as players.”

“They only care about their ticket sales, their tournament and that’s it. I’m not sure I want to go back there one day.”

Sabalenka explained, “We have these small windows in the calendar that let me recover, recharge my batteries, train, and be better prepared for the big tournament.”

After her decision to skip the Middle East tournaments and withdraw from the WTA 1000 events, that decision didn’t sit well with the tournament director at all.

Salah Tahlak, tournament director at Dubai had criticized Sabalenka over her decision to withdraw in February.

He called the withdrawal “bad surprise,” stating, “Learning of Aryna’s and Iga’s withdrawals was a very bad surprise. The reasons for these withdrawals were quite strange, moreover. I think there should be a harsher sanction, not just fines—they should have ranking points deducted.”

Reflecting on the tournament priorities, Tahlak added, “It’s regrettable that we spend considerable sums to modernize our facilities, when in the end, it’s the players who make the tournament.”

For context, Aryna Sabalenka decided to withdraw from both Dubai and Doha WTA 1000 events last month.

The 27-year-old Aryna Sabalenka after making a comeback at Indian Wells two weeks ago and winning the tournament for the first time in her career.