Desperate Sabalenka fell into a mental hole in defeat

Aryna Sabalenka lost her mental and emotional equilibrium on Wednesday as the world No. 1 crumbled to a quarter-final defeat to exit the French Open.

The world No. 1 will not lose her top ranking but will require work to repair her broken spirits after going out 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 to Diana Shnaider, with the underdog challenger sweeping the last 10 games of the debacle at Roland Garros.

“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.”

She said the situation got worse toward the bitter end.

“I don’t know when was the last time I lost 10 games in a row. 

“I guess mentally I got into a very deep, deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn’t get back mentally on track. 

“I just have to sit back and think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments, because I’m quite experienced player. 

“I’ve been through so many things; I just have to figure that little thing that is not working for me sometimes, and hopefully I can overcome it.”

The four-time Grand Slam winner was particularly annoyed by her lack of performance in the second set when she could have served out a win.

“I had very decent opportunities in the second set. I screw up, and then she stepped in and she played great. 

“Mentally I couldn’t really recover after the second set. That was the biggest mistake from me.”

She added: “Maybe I’m focusing too much that I never won a Slam (on clay) maybe it made me overthink stuff, (get) over-emotional.

“This is something I have to try to find a solution, because I just am so tired of me losing some matches not in the best way just because I was over-emotional.

But despite disappointment, Sablenka kept a light-hearted sense of perspective.

“You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything”

“Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff.

“Maybe it will help; maybe not.”

Main photo:- Aryna Sabalenka loses her way in quarter final – by Roger Parker ISFLtd