In a rant about the U.S. Open, Dave Portnoy didn’t miss taking a shot at the two-time defending women’s champion.
In a video posted to X Wednesday morning, the sports media personality explains he is “not a huge tennis guy,” yet he admitted he was once close to Aryna Sabalenka.
“I’ve bet it [tennis] a couple times. I was a big Sabalenka guy,” he said. “Sabalenka invited me to sit in her box for the U.S. Open against Coco [Gauff] before anybody f–king knew who she was. And then I asked her to do a pizza review and she’s like ‘Yes. Yes, yes.’
“And then she got whooshed up into David Grutman in Hollywood and blew me off. So, she was dead to me.”
Sabalenka lost that 2023 final to Gauff, who won her first Grand Slam, and the Barstool Sports founder couldn’t attend due to a prior commitment.
The two met up months later in Miami, however.
Portnoy posted a photo on X at the time with the caption, “The Queen of Tennis @SabalenkaA.”
He was also a major supporter for her during that U.S. Open run, betting and posting videos of his reactions to her matches.
However, it seems the relationship has strained after the pizza review invite fell through.
The world No. 1 and Grutman, who is a hospitality entrepreneur behind LIV nightclub, have become close friends over the years.
Grutman recently hosted the controversial DraftKings Welcome Players Party, which Sabalenka attended along with Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff, Matteo Berrettini, Serena Williams, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex Eala, Paige Paul and more.
Portnoy’s tangent on the 28-year-old four-time Grand Slam winner was a part of a larger monologue around Ben Shelton’s five-set quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz ending at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday morning.
“What is the U.S. Open doing having matches end at 3:30 in the morning? How dumb are you?” he said. “Like what are you doing? 3:30 in the morning? I’ve had this rant in years past. Only the Blutmans [Barstool staffer Liam Blutman] are up and it’s a huge match. It’s Alcatraz losing to Trinity Rodman’s boyfriend, Blake [Ben] Shelton. That is a huge f–king match. I’m not a tennis person but last night, if that’s on at a reasonable hour, which nowadays for me is like 7:30 p.m., I’m watching that. But 3:30 a.m.? Who is watching that besides the Blutmans?”
Portnoy wondered what the fans in the stadium were consuming to stay awake for the four-hour, 28-minute match. He speculated ecstasy and Adderall.
“Like, what are they doing? How are you awake? It’s so crazy,” he said. “Who is running the U.S. Open that you’re starting matches at like midnight or one in the morning? What are you doing? How stupid are some people? What is the advantage in that? 3:30 in the morning? You got to have rocks in your head.”
The match went down as the latest finish ever at the hard court slam in Queens.
Late-night matches have been an ongoing issue for the tournament and many have long debated how to fix the fiasco.
On Tuesday, Sabalenka punched her ticket to the semifinals after defeating Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in three sets with a tiebreaker finish.
She will face American star Jessica Pegula on Thursday as she continues her quest for a three-peat.
