Coco Gauff Fundamentally Disagrees With Aryna Sabalenka As World No. 1 Begs Wimbledon To Change Rule

Aryna Sabalenka recently weighed in on Wimbledon’s ban on pet dogs, urging the tournament officials to change the rule. Coco Gauff, however, disagreed with the Belarusian’s stance and shared her own views on the tournament’s policy.

Sabalenka’s latest outing came in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships, where she beat McCartney Kessler 6-1, 7-6(9) in a dominant performance. Following the match, the world No. 1 was asked during her post-match press conference about the tournament’s rule prohibiting pet dogs on the tournament grounds.

Sabalenka, who traveled to the 2026 French Open with her newly adopted Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy, requested Wimbledon to reverse their policy. Stating that her dogs are well-trained, she pleaded with officials to let the dogs inside, saying:

“Well, I can understand why they made this decision. Obviously if the dog does something wrong inside of this historical place, probably going to take a bit of time to replace. They’re probably afraid of damages inside. I have to say all of our dogs are very well-trained. They’re not going to do anything wrong inside of this beautiful building. We have to change that. It just sometimes hurts to leave him at the house by himself. He really get attached a lot. But he suffers staying alone. It really hurts my feeling. It’s just like little fluffy thing that always want cuddle and love. Going to the park with him, walking around, is also like some sort of meditation for me.
Wimbledon, please, I beg you, let the dogs inside (smiling),” said Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka’s request was brought up during Gauff’s post-match press conference following her victory over Solana Sierra. Asked for her thoughts on allowing pet dogs at Wimbledon, the American disagreed with Sabalenka, saying:

“I love dogs. I definitely think there’s a place and time for them. I do love them. I mean, this is also different because this is held at a club, which I don’t think they allow dogs anyways in general. So I respect the rules. But I definitely think, like, there’s certain places like dogs shouldn’t be for safety reasons, like the gym and the locker room, where sometimes I see dogs. Like I say, I love dogs, but I definitely think there’s a time and place,” said Coco Gauff.

She added:

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind them around the site, but I just definitely think, ’cause there’s been times where I almost stepped on somebody’s dog, almost threw a medicine ball at someone’s dog. I don’t know, you don’t want to hurt an animal. I definitely think in the gym where there’s already 50 million players doing a million different things. In the gym, no. In the locker room, no. Maybe in the food areas no, because of cleanliness.”

Aryna Sabalenka weighed in on her second-round performance at Wimbledon

After defeating McCartney Kessler in the second round at Wimbledon, Aryna Sabalenka reflected on the win during her on-court interview. Praising her opponent, she described the contest as a ‘true battle’ and admitted that American had really ‘tested’ her throughout the match. Calling it a ‘great fight,’ she said: