Is Aryna Sabalenka retiring? Tennis star makes emotional confession after French Open defeat

Aryna Sabalenka suffered a heartbreaking collapse at the French Open after losing her quarter-final match to Diana Shnaider at Roland Garros. The world No. 1 looked completely in control after winning the first set and leading 4-1 in the second. But the match suddenly turned around in difficult windy conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Sabalenka ended up losing the final 10 games in a row and later admitted she felt like quitting tennis after the painful defeat.

The Belarusian star also became frustrated during the match and kicked a tennis ball after missing a first serve. The ball travelled toward the line judge and ball kids before bouncing into the crowd. Sabalenka later apologised for the moment and openly spoke about her emotional struggles after the loss. Her reaction quickly became one of the biggest talking points from the tournament.

Aryna Sabalenka opens up on emotional struggles after Diana Shnaider defeat at Roland Garros

Sabalenka started the match strongly and won the opening set 6-3. She then moved ahead 4-1 in the second set and looked close to reaching another French Open semi-final. However, once the winds became stronger in Paris, the momentum completely changed.

The three-time Grand Slam champion looked increasingly frustrated as the conditions became harder to manage. She repeatedly tried to clear dust from her face and struggled to stay calm between points. On the other side, Diana Shnaider slowly settled into the match and kept forcing Sabalenka into errors from the baseline.

After the defeat, Sabalenka gave a very honest reaction about her emotions. She said, “No thoughts, no emotions. Just want to quit tennis right now, but we’ll see. We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”

She also admitted that she completely lost control mentally once the match slipped away from her. Sabalenka said, “I don’t know when the last time that happened to me that I lost 10 games in a row. I guess mentally I got into very deep, deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn’t get back mentally on track.”

The 28-year-old explained that she now needs some time away mentally to handle the frustration better. She said, “This is something that I actually have to kind of step back and try to find a solution because I am so tired of losing some matches not in the best way just because I was overemotional.”

Sabalenka later added, “You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything? I will probably spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help; maybe not.”

Meanwhile, Diana Shnaider described the victory as one of the biggest moments of her career. The Russian player said she felt nervous early in the match but slowly adjusted to the windy conditions and focused on fighting for every point.