Aryna Sabalenka is in excellent form. A few weeks ago, she triumphed in the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, dealing with Jessica Pegula in the final and returning to second place in the WTA ranking. She is currently competing in the US Open, where she is one of the favorites. On the way to the semifinals, she lost only a set. In the quarterfinals, in turn, she easily defeated the Olympic gold medalist from Paris, Qinwen Zheng, 6:1, 6:2. During the meeting with the Chinese woman, she also showed off a few acrobatic moves, such as the one in which she did… the splits.. The fans were simply delighted with her form. At the same time, there was a lot of talk about her fitness trainer, who is one of the people responsible for the Belarusian's physical preparation. However, it was not about his contribution to the tennis player's form.
One of Sabalenka's coaches caused a scandal. It's all because of the hat
Jason Stacy, because that's who we're talking about, caused quite a bit of controversy. He was watching Sabalenka's duel with Zheng from the stands. And the fans' attention was drawn to the cap he was wearing that day. It was produced by the company “XX-XY Athletics”. This is a brand that openly opposes transgender people competing in women's sports. Hence the name, which is intended to distinguish men from women. “We make no apologies for our mission. We are here to protect women's sports and space for women” – we read on the official website.
And it turns out that the brand is causing quite a stir online, mostly negative. Its activity is not liked even by many social media platforms, which, among others, have blocked the company's ads, claiming that the company spreads hate speech against transgender people.
That's why Stacy's appearance in a cap of this brand caused a stir. What's more, it was noticed that it was not the first time he had worn it. It was similar in Cincinnati. He was also supposed to promote the brand on the Internet. Internet users immediately noticed this detail and attacked the fitness trainer.
Internet users criticized Stacy harshly
“I feel like I'm going crazy. After all, the coach of one of the best players in the world is wearing a cap from a brand that was banned from TikTok because it was accused of hate speech against transgender people. What's more, he did it at the biggest tennis tournament in the world, and no one is talking about it,” one of X's users was outraged.
Another attacked the US Open and said that the event organizers should respond in some way. Especially since they have preached and acted in a way that promoted tolerance in the past. “It's a shame the US Open has nothing to say,” we read.
Jennifer Sey, one of the founders of the aforementioned company, also responded to the storm that erupted on the Internet. “A few anonymous accounts on X wrote about Stacy's hat, which we obviously really like. Sorry, but 70 percent of Americans agree with us and Jason Stacy that women's sports are only for XX. We are the majority,” wrote the outraged activist.
Now Sabalenka faces the semifinals of the US Open. In it, she will play against Emma Navarro, the favorite of the local audience. – Tonight, I'm buying drinks. Okay, drink to me and give me some support in the next match – the Belarusian joked, trying to convince the local audience to support her in the clash with Navarro.