Aryna Sabalenka threatens to ‘quit tennis’ after remarkable French Open loss
Aryna Sabalenka cut a dejected figure following her shock French Open quarter-final loss to Diana Shnaider on Wednesday.
In a tournament where the top seeds continue to tumble, Sabalenka was the latest big-name scalp to be dumped out of this year’s Roland Garros.
The world No 1 was 6-3 and 4-1 up on Court Philippe Chatrier, as she looked on course to reach another French Open semi-final.
But her Russian opponent raised her game and pounced as Sabalenka flailed in the windy conditions. The 28-year-old ended up making 57 unforced errors as she fell to a 3-6 7-5 6-0 loss.
After the contest, 25th seed Shnaider, who will face qualifier Maja Chwalinksa in a semi-final very few would have predicted, could not hold back her stunned amazement.
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She said, “Honestly, I am speechless. She is the world number one, so I was just trying to do my best. I had to fight for every point.”
An understandably disconsolate Sabalenka stunned reporters with her candid opening at her press conference.
She said, “No thoughts, no emotions. I want to quit tennis right now. We’ll see in a few days if I’m back on track.”
Sabalenka – who lost in similar circumstances to Coco Gauff in last year’s French Open final – conceded 10 games in a row as Schnaider sped away to victory.
The four-time Grand Slam winner is yet to win a major outside hard courts, with the Minsk-born player chalking up two Australian Open and US Open victories.
The French Open and Wimbledon still evade her clutches, something she admits may be playing on her mind.
Sabalenka added, “I don’t know. I really feel great on clay, I feel great on grass. Maybe I’m focusing too much on the fact that I’ve never won a Slam on them, and maybe that makes me overthink things, makes me over-emotional at some moments.
“This is something I actually have to step back from and try to find a solution, because I’m so tired of losing like this – not in the best way, just because I was over-emotional.”
However, she struck a defiant figure and vowed to bounce back from this big setback.
She finished her press conference by saying, “Well, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, I guess. At some point I’ll figure out the situation and we’ll get back tougher.
“By the way, I just figured out how I can overcome it – one of those rooms where you go in and smash everything. Probably I’ll spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not. Thank you very much.”
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