Aryna Sabalenka was far from her best at the French Open, where she suffered a shock quarterfinal exit.
Sabalenka lost to Diana Shnaider at the clay-court Grand Slam, falling short of her runner-up finish from 2025.
The Belarusian was the top seed at the French Open, but Sabalenka fell 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 to 25th seed Shnaider in a major upset.
Former doubles player Rennae Stubbs has now reacted to the match, which was played in very windy conditions at Philippe Chatrier.
Prove me wrong – Aryna Sabalenka WILL NOT win a Grand Slam in 2026
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Rennae Stubbs shocked by Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open
Stubbs shared her disbelief at the WTA superstar on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, with Sabalenka having committed 57 unforced errors and lost 10 games in a row en route to the loss.
“How can you as world number one, at that point the only player who has won a major title in the draw, and you are up a set and 4-1 against a player who has never made a semifinal of a major,” said Stubbs.
“You are crushing them. Yes, it’s windy. Yes, the circumstances are not perfect. But you are up a set and 4-1. You cannot blame the wind and the conditions for you losing that match.
“Then I don’t understand why at a set and 4-1 you are even remotely p—– off at anything. She is yelling at her box, she is telling them this and that, she is throwing her racket and her arms up in the air.
“It reminded me of when Simona Halep lost when up a set and 3-0 over Jelena Ostapenko in the final and decided to throw her racket.
“I’m like why would you throw your racket when you are up a set and 3-0 and the girl down the other end thinks she has no hope.
“Then all of a sudden she sees you throwing your racket and acting like a pork chop and you think maybe I do have a chance.
“That’s exactly how Shnaider reacted. This is the locker room reputation I talk about all the time. You know a player like Sabalenka, if she starts to go off a little bit, she can go way off.
“There are certain players that once they start going off the rails you know they can come back with some great stuff, but you know that there is a possibility she is going to give you two or three games. That, as a coach, I can tell you is the locker room reputation of Sabalenka.
“Yes, you know she is going to go for it. Yes, if you get her into a tiebreak she is probably going to pull her head in and play the best tennis out of the two of you.
“Why at a set and 4-1 would you show any negativity at all? I don’t understand it. It was all her fault.
“Yes, Shnaider played well and she kept the ball in the court, but as the best player in the world, with the most experience, looking at that draw, how do you even show remotely any negativity? Then it just fell apart and she could not get it back.”
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Aryna Sabalenka will feel aggrieved with French Open organizers
Of course, it is not the first time that Sabalenka failed to manage the windy conditions in the French capital.
The exact same situation played out in her 2025 final with Coco Gauff, who recovered to win their battle 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-4.
Whether or not she can overcome that issue remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a hindrance for the WTA number one.
Sabalenka does, however, have the right to feel somewhat aggrieved with the tournament organizers following her exit.
Around 90 minutes after she departed the venue, the roof was closed for the second set of the men’s match between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli.
The measure was taken because of the chance of rain, but the roof arguably could have been closed earlier because of the Paris rain.
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