Aryna Sabalenka succumbed to a devastating loss on a windy day on Court Philippe Chartrier, as a loss to Russian Diana Shnaider spelt the end of the world number one’s attempt at a first French Open title. Sabalenka lost after serving for the match in the second set, which meant being knocked out after losing 10 consecutive games to end the match didn’t sit well for the uber-competitive Belarusian.
Reflecting after her 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss, Sabalenka allowed her disappointment at the loss to be evident when speaking to the press after the match. Sitting down for her press conference, Sabalenka was typically candid about her afternoon in Paris.
“No thoughts, no emotions, just wanna quit tennis right now, but we’ll see… We’ll see in three days, hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally,” said Sabalenka.
The French Open remains elusive for Sabalenka, who fell in the final to Coco Gauff last year, and had a chance to go one better with her primary rivals already eliminated from the tournament. However, her inability to convert against the world number three after leading 5-3 in the second set might haunt her for the coming year.
‘Deep, dark hole’ got better of Sabalenka
For Sabalenka, it was the crushing third set that affected her mentally, and she admitted that being unable to see out the second set rattled her to a point where she was not able to play anything close to her best tennis in the third – an opportunity Shnaider jumped on in her bid for a first grand slam semifinal.
“I felt like I had very decent opportunities in the second set. I screwed up and then she stepped in and she played great, and I feel like mentally I couldn’t really recover after the second set. I think that was the biggest mistake from me,” accepted Sabalenka.
A player of Sabelenka’s calibre doesn’t expect to vanish from the competition as much as she did for the last hour of the contest – and Sabalenka mentioned that it was an inability to find the mental recovery needed to fight back from that kind of adversity that made it even worse for her.
“I don’t know when was the last time that happened to me, that I lose ten games in a row. I don’t know, I guess mentally I got into a deep, deep dark hole there, and couldn’t get back mentally on track,” concluded Sabalenka.
Thrills and spills and plenty of upsets continue to define this French Open – and a first-time grand slam winner confirmed in both the men’s and women’s draws now.
