Aryna Sabalenka ‘didn’t learn much from Coco Gauff match’, says former world No 1

Aryna Sabalenka’s inability to handle tricky, windy conditions was once again exposed at the French Open with Mats Wilander admitting he is surprised that she hasn’t “solved those issues”.

Twelve months ago, Sabalenka made a dominant start to the Roland Garros final against Coco Gauff as she was up a double break, but then started struggling as the weather changed and she suffered a collapse as the American ended up winning 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–4.

After the match, she came under fire as she described it as her “worst final” while she also stated Iga Swiatek “would have won the final”.

“It was really honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in the last, I don’t know, in the last I don’t know how many months,” the Belarusian said. “Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.”

The world No 1 added: “I don’t know, I think Iga – if Iga would win me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win.”

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Fast forward to 2026 and she started her semi-final against Diana Shnaider as the heavy favourite and was once again in cruise control as she won the opening set and was serving for the match at 6-3, 5-3, but then suffered an incredible collapse as she didn’t win another game, with the 25th seed winning 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Former world No 1 and TNT Sports and Eurosport expert Wilander was asked if he thought Shnaider had a chance, he replied: “No, absolutely not. I thought Sabalenka was playing great. I didn’t think the wind was going to make that big a difference.

“I thought after last year’s final she would have solved those issues, as she got really upset because of the wind last year and lost to Coco Gauff, and it doesn’t seem like she learned that much from that match.”

The seven-time Grand Slam winner also praised Shnaider for adapting to the conditions as he highlighted a key area where she did better than Sabalenka.

“[Diana coped with the windy conditions] unbelievably well. And I think it has a lot to do with her footwork, she takes a lot of small steps, and when you’re playing in the wind, you’ve got to take small steps,” he explained.

“You can’t take big steps like Sabalenka, who takes big steps and then hits the ball really trying to hit through the wind. But because the wind is moving the ball around, you’re going to lose your spacing from the ball, and I think Shnaider did an excellent job.

“So she also waited and constructed the point a little bit more. You’ve got to play three, four shots, you can’t see ball, hit ball in the wind. You’ve got to work the angles, you’ve got to work the wind, and then she set it up for her forehand down the line.

“So Shnaider, I mean, all credit to her for winning 6-0 in the third. Obviously, Sabalenka has a lot to do with it because she got completely unravelled, I think because of the wind, but in the end it’s Shnaider that wins the match, and it’s just an unbelievable comeback and another upset in the tournament.”

*Mats Wilander is part of TNT Sports’ Roland-Garros coverage*

*Every match of Roland-Garros is live across TNT Sports and HBO Max*.