Aryna Sabalenka ‘scar tissue’ claim fuels fears Roland Garros shocker will leave lasting mark
Aryna Sabalenka has been warned her disastrous French Open collapse against Diana Shnaider could leave an indelible mark on her mentality as she heads into the grass court season.
Sabalenka lost 10 successive games to crash out of Roland Garros, as the world No 1 admitted she could not control her emotions as the match slipped through her fingers.
“No thoughts, no emotions. I just want to quit tennis right now, but we’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally,” Sabalenka said at her post-match press conference.
“I feel I had very decent opportunities in the second set. I screwed up, and then she stepped in and she played great.
“I feel mentally I couldn’t really recover after the second set. I think that was the biggest mistake from me.
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“I don’t know when the last time was that I lost 10 games in a row. I guess mentally I got into a very deep, dark hole over there and I just couldn’t get back on track mentally.
“I actually have to step back and try to find a solution, because I just am so tired of me losing some matches not in the best way just because I was overemotional.”
Now former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has joined the debate over what comes next for Sabalenka, as he believes the manner of her defeat in Paris will leave a lasting mark.
“She had no emotional control out there,” said Rusedski on his podcast.
“She didn’t have any rituals, any way to calm down, to find solutions. She’s a great champion. She’s a great player, but that’s the one aspect in her game that lets her down, as we saw against Coco (Gauff) last year in the final.
“You’ve gotta find a way to control it at the biggest moments and the tournament that she struggles is in Paris. Last year she should have won. This year the draw was decimated again on her side, but she lost it mentally. She didn’t come through.
“This is gonna cause scar tissue because it’s back to back years it happens. Will it affect her at Wimbledon? Possibly. US Open, I don’t think so, because that’s usually her favorite Slam to play with the Australian Open.
“But is she ever going to win the French Open? And is she ever going to win Wimbledon? That’s the big question. Or will she have a great bounce back like Jannick Sinner did at Wimbledon last year?”
Rusedski went on to suggest the mental strength of a player is as important as their racket skills as he added: “You head is the most important thing and that is what’s let her down two years in a row.
“It’s not the tennis. The tennis is there, but she just lost control of her emotions and didn’t find a way through.
“It gets harder every time this happens to you. Either create a good habit or you create a bad habit. And in Paris, the last two losses haven’t gone the way. Not because of her tennis, but because of her emotional control.”
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