Aryna Sabalenka fumbled big time against Diana Shnaider at the French Open. Having led for most of the match, she looked set to book a place in the semifinals. However, an unexpected turnaround would see Shnaider win 10 games in a row and knock out last year’s runner-up 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. Sabalenka’s post-match frustration mirrored her on-court bewilderment, with the Belarusian even remarking that she wanted to “quit” tennis. The words stirred up an unease, leaving many caught off guard, including her performance coach, Jason Stacy.

“I mean, we hadn’t spoken. None of us in the team had spoken to her before that moment,” he said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “She probably should have taken a little bit more time just to kind of settle down a little bit before she went out there.”

But Stacy also admitted that Sabalenka’s reaction was justified. Having led the first set 4-1, she appeared to be cruising towards the victory. However, it was then that the conditions became quite windy at the Court Philippe-Chatrier. The officials didn’t close the roof, meaning both players had to adapt quickly.

“She told you how she was feeling, and like anybody else, if you just had like just a really, really terrible moment in front of so many people and you’re just humiliated, you’re frustrated, you’re angry, you’re embarrassed. And then right after, when someone’s like, ‘hey, tell me what you’re feeling’, you know? She’s authentic,” he added.

While the weather blew away Sabalenka’s momentum, Shnaider found a second wind and clinched 12 out of the next 13 games. The World No. 1  had completely lost her composure by the third set and committed numerous errors to give up the advantage. She finished the match with a handful of screaming outbursts and a staggering 57 unforced errors, 17 of which had come in the deciding set.

The number isn’t far off from her infamous tally of 72 against Emma Raducanu at last year’s Cincinnati Masters. Yet those mistakes emerged in an eventual win, unlike this time.

The latest defeat resembled Sabalenka’s memorable loss against Coco Gauff at the French Open final last year. She had clinched the first set on that occasion as well, before the weather took the wind out of her sails. Gauff, on the other hand, shone in the next two sets and won the match 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

The loss to Shnaider means she finished the clay swing with no titles and lost a massive number of points in the rankings. Sabalenka had been awarded 1300 points after reaching the final of the Roland Garros last year. The latest exit from the quarter finals in Paris saw her leave with 430. Couple this with her disappointing third-round defeat to Sorana Cirstea in Italy last month, and Sabalenka’s frustration hardly seems out of place.

However, this wasn’t the first time that the Belarusian had considered quitting tennis. Similar questions plagued her mind in 2022 when she hit one of the lowest points in her career.

Aryna Sabalenka contemplated quitting tennis due to struggles with her serve

Constantly committing double-faults had become a habit for Sabalenka during the opening stages of the 2022 season. She had picked up two consecutive first-round exits in Adelaide before the Australian Open. A big reason for her alarming start was the excessive number of double-faults.

Her struggles would continue throughout the year, and she would finish with a total of 428 double-faults, 151 more than any other WTA player. It was during this time that she started thinking about leaving the sport as a whole at the age of just 23.

“I couldn’t put one serve in. I was double-faulting 40 times,” she had admitted via AFP in 2025. “And I was like, maybe that’s a sign that I have to quit. Because I was pushing, trying. We’ve done everything to fix my serve, and nothing would work.”

In a desperate need to improve her serve, Sabalenka hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan. To say that this appointment did wonders for her would be an understatement.

She has gone on to win four Grand Slams since and has been the reigning World No. 1 since October 2024. Her serve has also undergone a drastic improvement, and she is now way more confident with it.

Four years later, Sabalenka has shared a similar sentiment, albeit in a different circumstance. Facing a dip in form, she will look to galvanize herself at the German Open, with Jessica Peligula awaiting her in the semi-finals.

Although Sabalenka has been unbeaten against the American in the last six matches, her current mindset could be a huge hurdle.