Aryna Sabalenka crashed out of the French Open in shocking fashion on Wednesday.
Sabalenka fell to 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, despite dominating for most of the match.
The world number one took the first set against Shnaider and was up 4-1 in the second, but lost control completely and conceded 12 of the final 13 games in the bout.
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Following the exits of Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, Sabalenka was the overwhelming favourite to go all the way in Paris and claim a maiden Roland Garros crown.
But according to Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, the Belarusian went into ‘panic mode’ against Shnaider, which ultimately cost her the match.
Patrick Mouratoglou reacts to Aryna Sabalenka’s loss
“There are two Sabalenkas, and you never know which one you’re gonna get,” said Mouratoglou in a post on Instagram.
“She had a very difficult match on paper against Naomi Osaka. I thought Aryna would be emotionally struggling and start to panic a little bit. She did the opposite. She played a perfect match and Naomi had no chance.
“And then in the next match, it’s a completely different person. You can feel she’s on the edge. I think the fact that it was windy played a big role.
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“The feeling that she had was, oof, I don’t have control. And even though she was dominating the match easily, she didn’t have the feeling that she was controlling. It says, oof, my panic mode is activated.
“And I think she started to freak out because of this. And you could feel, slowly but surely, the panic getting full control on her. It’s like an alien that is in your body.
“So the more she expresses her panic, the more this alien is growing until it takes full control and then the match is over. She has no chance.”
Aryna Sabalenka’s points to defend during the grass swing
Following the conclusion of her clay-court season, Sabalenka will now set her sights on the grass swing.
Sabalenka entered two grass-court tournaments last season, the first of which was the Berlin Open, where she made the semifinals.
She then matched her career-best finish at Wimbledon by making the final four, before falling to Amanda Anisimova.
With her lengthy campaigns in 2025, Sabalenka will be defending 975 WTA points in Berlin and London.
Grass is statistically Sabalenka’s worst surface, with the 28-year-old having recorded a win percentage of 65% throughout her career, compared to 75% on hard and 73% on clay.
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