World No. 12 Aryna Sabalenka has apologised for an on-court tantrum in which she shook an empty bottle in the direction of a ball boy before tossing it on the floor. The big-hitting Belarusian faced criticism after footage of the episode during her quarter-final defeat to Wang Qiang at the China Open in early October was shared widely on social media.

But following a winning start at the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai, Sabalenka, 20, vowed to never do it again. "Well, I'm so sorry," she said at her post-match press conference after beating Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-4. "It was emotional and I was losing my mind and after that I saw it on Twitter and I was just like 'Oh my god, what did you mean?'. "I didn't even remember this, and I was just like 'Wow, I'm sorry for this guy'."