World No. 23 Diana Shnaider didn’t beat Aryna Sabalenka; Sabalenka beat herself. Shenaider won 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in two hours and 12 minutes at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. Despite making a strong start to the match, the World No. 1 crumbled in the second and third sets. Seeing the match move out of her grasp, Sabalenka couldn’t help but feel helpless. She soon started committing unforced errors out of frustration, and this is where Shnaider capitalized.

Shnaider’s strategy was simple: focus inward, ignore Sabalenka’s meltdown. Though the Russian did realize that Sabalenka was getting frustrated, she didn’t think much about it.

“Of course, I saw some moments of her frustration. I know Aryna she’s a very emotional person, I am too. But I feel like this tournament what I’m doing pretty good is not letting my negative emotions and thoughts to be in the way of me playing my best tennis. For sure, there was a lot of moments where I could be also super pissed at myself and super frustrated with everything that was happening.

“But again, I feel like when I saw her being emotional. I was like yes, you’re in the right direction, just focus on yourself, don’t focus too much on her, what she’s talking to the team or what she’s doing. I was just trying to only think about myself, what I have to do, and just go point by point,” she said during the post-match press conference.

The clash turned on its head during the second set as the conditions around the court became extremely windy. While Shnaider adapted, Sabalenka faltered and momentum shifted. The Belarusian was leading 4-1 in the second set at one stage, but then had her serve broken thrice as Shnaider dragged the match into a decider.

Sabalenka went on to lose the last 10 games in a row and got bagelled for the first time in over two years. This defeat pretty much felt like deja vu for the World No. 1 as she had lost similarly at last year’s French Open final against Coco Gauff.

She had taken a valuable lead by winning the first set, but the conditions soon became windy. Sabalenka had failed to adapt on that occasion as well and had suffered a heartbreaking 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 defeat. Turns out that Shnaider had watched that match and was aware that Sabalenka was finding it difficult to adjust to the conditions.

“I watched it. I knew that it was also super windy. So of course, I had that thought in the back of my mind that she was struggling with Coco last year,” she further said.

The wind wasn’t Sabalenka’s only problem, with her frustration boiling over on court. The 28-year-old threw her arms up on multiple occasions and gestured wildly as she kept on losing points. She even remonstrated loudly against her own team at one stage.

Sabalenka finished the match with a total of 57 unforced errors, 17 of which had come in the final set. Her elimination from the tournament means that there are no Grand Slam winners left in the women’s draw. Things are the same on the men’s side, as all the previous Grand Slam winners have long been eliminated.

Sabalenka appeared to be quite emotional as she faced the press after the shocking defeat to Shnaider. While she did admit that the result was all on her, she also raised serious questions over a decision that the officials took during the match.

Aryna Sabalenka questions why Philippe-Chatrier’s roof wasn’t closed

The Belarusian felt that the roof of Philippe-Chatrier should have been closed due to the windy conditions. She also recalled that the roof had been closed in similar conditions during men’s singles matches last year.

“That’s another question – I don’t know why they would keep the roof open when it was crazy windy. But how can I complain if for almost the whole match everything was working okay for me, and then it just slipped away? I feel like it was getting crazy, maybe just because mentally I wasn’t really okay.

“I remember even from last year they kept the roof open for us, and then the next day, in similar conditions, they closed it for the men – to make better conditions and better quality of tennis, I believe. 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 sit there and watch. And then at some point she stepped in and played unbelievable,” she said during the post-match press conference.

Sabalenka was distraught. The World No. 1 even said that she wants to “quit” tennis following the defeat.

“No thoughts, no emotion. I want to quit tennis right now. We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully, I can get back on track mentally,” she stated.

Having won no titles in the clay swing, Sabalenka will be desperate to improve her form as the grass-court season commences later in June. She is likely to begin the swing by participating in the HSBC Championships, which are set to be held from June 8 at the Queen’s Club.