Being World no 1 and mentally being your worst enemy, “I just want to quit tennis right now,” said Aryna Sabalenka as she was knocked out of the French Open by Diana Shnaider 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
Sabalenka started very well and won the first set 6–3 with her powerful shots. She also led 4–1 in the second set and looked ready to win the match. At that point, she seemed confident and in control.
Shnaider stayed calm and kept fighting. She began playing better, making fewer mistakes and winning longer rallies.
As Shnaider’s confidence grew, Sabalenka became frustrated and started making more errors. Shnaider came back to win the second set 7–5, which changed the momentum of the match.
In the final set, Shnaider played with great confidence and energy, while Sabalenka struggled to recover.
Shnaider won the third set 6–0 to complete an impressive comeback. By the end, Shnaider was full of happiness and belief, while Sabalenka looked disappointed and upset as a match she had been close to winning slipped away.
This defeat has clearly taken a heavy toll on the 28-year-old, who has spoken openly about the impact it has had on her mental health.
After falling just short in last year’s French Open final, where she lost to Coco Gauff in three sets, 6–7, 6–2, 6–4, Sabalenka arrived at Roland Garros determined to go one step further.
As one of the tournament favourites and still searching for her first French Open title, many believed this could finally be her year.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Diana Shnaider moves to the semi-finals, where she will face Maja Chwalinska. Both opponents have faced each other before, back in April 2022 at the ITF W60 tournament in Istanbul. Shnaider won in straight-sets 6–4, 6–4 in the semifinals before going on to lift the title.
