Aryna Sabalenka must have felt a sense of déjà vu on Court Philippe-Chatrier as a combination of windy conditions, a relentless opponent, and her own emotions led to a dramatic Roland Garros collapse for a second straight year.
“Just want to quit tennis right now,” the world No. 1 said after a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider.
Sabalenka led by a set and two breaks, and later served for the match at 5-4 before losing the next 10 games in a collapse reminiscent of her 2025 finals defeat to Coco Gauff.
“This is something that I actually have to kind of, like, step back and kind of, like, try to find a solution,” a dazed Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference, “because I just am so tired of me losing some matches not in the best way just because I was overemotional.”
With Gauff and fellow rivals Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina all out of the tournament before the quarterfinals, the top seed appeared to have a wide-open path to a third straight Grand Slam final. Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska awaited the winner of her match with Shnaider in the semifinals.
But windy gusts of up to 30 miles-per-hour persisted throughout the match on Chatrier, and though Sabalenka frequently paused to let the court settle, she grew increasingly frustrated as Shnaider worked her way into the match.