Sabalenka says she ‘wants to quit tennis’ after shock French Open defeat to Shnaider | French Open 2026

Aryna Sabalenka said she wanted to “quit tennis” in a post-match outburst after suffering one of the worst slumps of her career, losing 10 straight matches en route to a shock 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 defeat to 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals of the French Open.

Asked by the moderator to explain her thoughts and emotions at the start of her post-match press conference, Sabalenka replied: “No thoughts, no emotions. I just want to quit tennis right now,” she said with a shrug. “But we’ll see. We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”

Ninety minutes after her 14th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, it seemed nothing could stop world No. 1 Sabalenka from having another simple, quiet day on the court. Even in windy conditions and after a few nervous games at the end of the opening set, her play was in full swing. She led 6-3, 4-1, 30-0, seemingly close to victory.

Instead, she quickly became paralyzed by tension and unable to play with any semblance of freedom, the top seed fell apart completely. Her fear was in contrast to the excellent fighting performance of Shnaider, who reached a grand slam semi-final for the first time in her career.

At 5-4, 30-30 in set two, Sabalenka was two points away from reaching her 13th major semi-final in her last 14 appearances. Being the only remaining player in the draw to even reach a grand slam semi-final, the four-time grand slam champion and No. 1 player was heavily favored to finally win her first French Open title. The 29-year-old has been so consistent at the slams and she has improved so much as a tennis player over the years. Yet one of the most important themes in her career is how often she is completely shackled by tension and nerves at the most decisive moments. Not even her collapse in last year’s final defeat to Coco Gauff came close to this surrender.

“I don’t know when the last time was that I lost ten games in a row,” Sabalenka added in the post-match. “Mentally, I got into a really deep, deep, dark hole there, and I just couldn’t get back on track.”

Sabalenka also reserved some of her frustration for the tournament organizers. She believes the roof should have been closed, given how difficult the windy conditions had become: “I don’t know why they would keep it open? Even though I was winning, it was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play,” she said.

Shnaider said she had Sabalenka’s loss to Gauff in the back of her mind as she tried to fight back: “I was looking at it. I knew it was super windy too. So of course I had the thought in the back of my mind that she wrestled Coco last year. I was like, ‘Yeah, I have to take advantage of this opportunity, I just have to adapt and do my best.'”

About 90 minutes after Sabalenka left Court Philippe Chatrier, the roof did indeed close on the second set of the men’s semi-final between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli.

As shocking as Sabalenka’s performance in the second half of the match was, Shnaider played her role to perfection. Once Sabalenka looked vulnerable, she steadied her game and dragged Sabalenka into lengthy, exhausting rallies in the tough conditions, brilliantly absorbing Sabalenka’s pace and maintaining impeccable depth. Throughout the final set, she gradually struggled with control of her exhausted opponent’s baseline and her angry left hand, her greatest weapon.

Such a big win has been a long time coming for Shnaider, a talented 22-year-old who has been in the top 20 for almost two years but has struggled to make her mark at the biggest tournaments and against the best players. Now she has earned the opportunity of a lifetime in a field that will end with a new Grand Slam champion.

Shnaider will next face one of the most surprising grand slam semifinalists in recent years, qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who defeated 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya to advance. Chwalinska is ranked No. 114 in the WTA rankings, she has never broken the top 100 before and she had only won one grand slam main draw before this event. Although she has yet to meet a top 20 opponent, the Pole has put together an incredible run in Paris, playing eight matches losing just one set.

At just 24 years old, Chwalinska is actually the oldest of the four semi-finalists. In the bottom half, 19-year-old eighth seed Mirra Andreeva, Shnaider’s doubles partner, will face 23-year-old 15th seed Marta Kostyuk in the final match between Russian and Ukrainian players.

As for Sabalenka, she was initially stunned when asked how on earth she would recover from such a bitter disappointment. However, after thinking about the subject, she had at least one solution. “Besides, I’m just thinking about how to overcome it,” Sabalenka said, smiling. “You know those rooms where you just go in and destroy everything? I’ll probably spend the whole day in there tomorrow destroying stuff. Maybe it helps, maybe it doesn’t.”