Aryna Sabalenka said she wanted “to quit tennis” after suffering one of the worst meltdowns of her career in the French Open quarter-finals, losing 10 consecutive games in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 defeat to Diana Shnaider.
The world No 1 led 6-3, 4-1 and was two points from victory before her game unravelled. “Mentally I got into a very deep, deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn’t get back on track,” she said.
Shnaider, 22, reached her first grand slam semi-final by absorbing Sabalenka’s power and dragging her into long rallies. She credited watching Sabalenka’s collapse against Coco Gauff in last year’s final for giving her belief.
Sabalenka criticised organisers for keeping the roof open in windy conditions. The roof was closed about 90 minutes after she left court for the men’s match. Shnaider will face qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who defeated Anna Kalinskaya.
