World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka has sent shockwaves through the tennis world by declaring she wants to quit the sport following a dramatic collapse at Roland Garros on Wednesday night. The Belarusian star saw her dream of a maiden French Open title evaporate as she crashed out to Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals, losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. The defeat completed a remarkable clean sweep of all grand slam winners failing to reach the semi-finals of both the men's and women's singles draws, a feat not seen since 1977 according to Opta.
Sabalenka, who entered the tournament as the overwhelming favourite after early exits from Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina, was left shattered by the loss. Speaking after the match, she admitted: "No thoughts, no emotions. Just want to quit tennis right now, but we'll see. We'll see in a few days. Hopefully I'll get back on track mentally." The world No.1 revealed she had fallen into a "deep, deep, dark hole" after losing ten consecutive games, a sequence she could not recall experiencing before.
The crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier was reportedly in "stunned silence" as Sabalenka's game unravelled in the third set. The collapse was reminiscent of last year's final, where Coco Gauff fought back to beat Sabalenka in three sets. However, this defeat to the 25th seed Shnaider may be even more painful, given the high stakes. Sabalenka, known for her power and resilience, struggled to find answers. "I don't like easy wins, you know. I guess for me it's about suffer, overcome, and get it done," she said with a wry smile. "What doesn't kill you makes you strong. At some point I will have to figure this out."
For Shnaider, the victory represents a career breakthrough. The 22-year-old Russian's best previous grand slam performance was a fourth-round appearance at the 2024 US Open. Now she finds herself as the favourite to reach the final. "It's gonna be a big switch for me for tomorrow's match," Shnaider said. "I'm expecting a huge fight tomorrow. I feel like both of us is gonna be leaving it all out tomorrow with a huge opportunity in front of us."
Shnaider will face Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who continued her remarkable run by defeating Russian 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. The world No.114 became only the second women's qualifier in the professional era to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros. "I honestly don't know what's going on. I know I repeat myself but every single match here is kind of crazy for me so I'm very grateful," Chwalinska said. The 24-year-old had won just two tour-level matches on clay before this tournament but now stands one victory away from a shot at the title.
In the men's draw, Italy's Flavio Cobolli came from a set down to defeat Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, setting up an all-Italian semi-final with Matteo Arnaldi. "I felt like this is the chance of my life," said the 10th seed. Arnaldi advanced after compatriot Matteo Berrettini retired with a hip injury while trailing 7-5, 5-2. The 104th-ranked Arnaldi said: "You never want someone to end the tournament like this. It's unbelievable, I still can't believe if I think where I was one month ago, I was nearly 150 in the world."
The semi-final line-ups are as follows: Men's semi-finals feature Alexander Zverev (Germany) vs Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic) and Matteo Arnaldi (Italy) vs Flavio Cobolli (Italy). Women's semi-finals include Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) vs Mirra Andreeva (Russia) and Diana Shnaider (Russia) vs Maja Chwalinska (Poland).
