Aryna Sabalenka is in ‘a terrible state’ after ‘quit tennis’ remark at Roland Garros
Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli has discussed Aryna Sabalenka’s “quit tennis” comment after the world No 1’s shock defeat at the 2026 French Open.
Sabalenka became the strong favourite to win the Roland Garros title after Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff — the other top four seeds — all lost before the quarter-finals.
However, Sabalenka was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 by 23rd-ranked Diana Shnaider in the last eight at the clay-court Grand Slam on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old Belarusian star was up a double break at 4-1 in the second set and served for the match at 5-4, but she collapsed to lose the last 10 games of the match.
Sabalenka is yet to win either the French Open or Wimbledon, having collected all four of her Grand Slam titles on hard courts.
In her press conference after her loss, Sabalenka 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.”
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Speaking to Prime Video France, Bartoli reacted to Sabalenka’s emotional statement after the match.
“It’s very clear that, psychologically, she’s in a terrible state and completely devastated by this defeat,” said the former world No 7.
“There’s a lot of hatred inside her, since she says, ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to a room where, you know, we can smash everything to let off steam ,’ because there’s so much anger inside her.
“And she also tells you, ‘Right now, I want to quit tennis.’ For me, today, as a coach, after defeats, some players say that: ‘I want to put down my rackets, never see a tennis court again,’ because of the immense disappointment.
“And the disappointment takes over from the love of the sport. And it’s true that what makes it difficult is that during these press conferences, there might be fifty journalists in the room, but they’re picked up all over the world today thanks to social media.
“And, worldwide, with social media, perhaps the headline that will appear in newspapers will be: ‘Aryna Sabalenka is going to quit tennis,’ even though that’s not what she truly believes. It’s just a reaction of disappointment.”
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