Among all the stunning upsets at the recently concluded French Open, none was more surprising than Aryna Sabalenka‘s spectacular meltdown against Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals. Pundits and fans alike have tried to put their finger on the exact cause that led to the incident, and now Rennae Stubbs has given her two cents on the Belarusian’s shocking crashout in Paris on her podcast.

“Why at a set and 4-1 would you show any negativity at all? I don’t understand it. It was all her fault,” Stubbs was scathing in her remarks about Sabalenka on her podcast, ‘The Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast.’

“You know a player like Sabalenka, if she starts to go off a little bit, she can go way off, right? There are certain players that once they start going off the rails, you know they can come back with some great stuff, but you know that there is a possibility she is going to give you two or three games. That, as a coach, I can tell you, is the locker room reputation of Sabalenka”.

Stubbs might have harsh words for the World No.1, but having once coached the WTA legend Serena Williams, her words do reflect some truth. With the draw wide open, it was expected that Aryna Sabalenka would cruise through the draw and clinch the trophy, which she narrowly missed last year. She was the undoubted favorite against Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals, and started in a fashion worthy of a top seed, taking a 5-1 lead in the first set. Withstanding a mini comeback from Shnaider, Sabalenka won the first set 6-3.

The top seed had a 4-1 lead in the second set and was one game away from sealing the match at 5-3. However, this is where Stubb’s assessment holds merit: the Belarusian looked flustered even after taking a commanding lead, shouting at her team and often screaming in frustration on the court.

Shnaider observed this and played a very clever game, engaging in long rallies that forced Aryna Sabalenka to play an extra ball. By then, the Belarusian’s accuracy was completely gone, and most of her groundstrokes were going long. From 3-5 down in the second set, the Russian won 10 games in a row, winning the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

On the other hand, Sabalenka’s troubles with the wind have been well documented in her career. The Belarusian struggled to make inroads against Coco Gauff in the French Open final last year, committing over 70 unforced errors. On a previous occasion in Cancun during the 2023 WTA Finals, the World No.1 completely lost her ball toss in the wind, which saw her make double-digit double faults in consecutive matches.

Sabalenka was in low spirits after the match, which is understandable given the result, but the Belarusian did talk about finding a solution, and one hopes she comes back at her best during the grass-court season.

Sabalenka Will Wish for a Grass-Court Reset to Get Her Season on Track

Leaving the clay behind, Sabalenka will aim to get a boost in her season on the grass. The Belarusian looked dejected in her post-match press conference in Paris, even talking about “quitting“. However, those thoughts seemed to have gone, as the World No.1 has entered the draw for the Berlin Open.

The draw is stacked, with Sabalenka set to face tough competition from Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova, and Mirra Andreeva. She holds a 4–5 record in five previous main-draw appearances in Berlin, with her best result coming last year when Marketa Vondrousova stopped her in the semifinals.

If one were to look past the Paris disappointment for Sabalenka, it has still been a dominant season for the world’s top-ranked player. She has a 31-4 win-loss record for the year, reaching the finals in four of the seven events she has played, with titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells, and Miami.

Even though Sabalenka has yet to win a grass-court title, she will be determined to remove that blemish from her record this year and aim for a deep run at Wimbledon, where the semifinals stage has proved to be a barrier for her.