Aryna Sabalenka has left a lot of people confused following her shock quarter-final defeat at Roland Garros.
Sabalenka was beaten by Diana Shnaider 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, despite having served for the match, before losing 10 games in a row.
The world number one was clearly frustrated throughout the match, as she struggled in the windy conditions, with Sabalenka admitting she wanted to ‘quit’ tennis after her defeat.
As the reaction to Sabalenka’s on-court behaviour continues, Coco Gauff’s former coach Brad Gilbert has claimed that something she did made no sense.
Brad Gilbert questions Aryna Sabalenka for ‘chirping and whinging’
Gilbert and former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic reacted to Sabalenka’s surprise Roland Garros defeat on the latest edition of The Big T Podcast.
Sabalenka led Shnaider 6-3, 4-1, and Gilbert has admitted his confusion after claiming she was ‘chirping and whinging’ at her player’s box even when leading, as he also drew comparisons to Jannik Sinner’s defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo at Roland Garros this year.
“We’ve seen everything here with the weather, the hot weather, the hail, Paris has fallen with the riots and today cold and windy,” said Gilbert. “But I feel like honestly, inexplicably, a set, 4-1 double break, you’re rolling. But I felt like, why was she chirping and whinging at her box after every point? It made no sense!
“And then she was wanting them to get up after every point. I almost feel like a little bit when [Jannik] Sinner lost, it wasn’t like [Juan Manuel] Cerundolo did everything, Shnaider just did enough to hang in there and then the 5-4 game, she missed that easy volley, she never recovered after that!”
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Petkovic then pointed out that all four of Sabalenka’s defeats this year have been from leading positions, with Gilbert suggesting that she may now have collected some mental baggage that is preventing her from winning as many majors as she perhaps should have.
“So this year, the three matches she’s lost before today were a 3-0 lead in the third set of the Australian Open against Elena Rybakina, six match points against Hailey Baptiste in Madrid, and a set a double break, not double break but two breaks in that set against Sorana Cirstea in Rome,” said Petkovic.
“So every single match she’s lost this year, there are not many four, I would take it, I would sign it right away, but all the matches she’s lost were a blown lead.”
Gilbert responded, “So you’re exactly right. Shnaider sometimes can go sideways, you know, pretty easily as well down a set and 4-1, I felt like she was grinding and competing. She didn’t really change her game.
“But you know when a player has all of a sudden blown a few leads, I felt like she got competitive. She got a little bit of a fist pump to get one break back. She got a little bit of help. But once you’ve wobbled once, twice, I don’t care how good you are it creeps in the brain and [I’m] really surprised like how quickly things spiralled for her.
“It was a lot like Sinner, like really you’re not going to pull out of here, you’re not going to get a second wind, the box couldn’t do anything and the conditions were tough. I obviously remember when she lost last year in the final with Coco was tough conditions, but I feel like honestly now the last two years, she’s left at least two or three Grand Slams on the table.”
How many Grand Slams will Aryna Sabalenka win this year?
She looks unstoppable right now!
Aryna Sabalenka’s last 14 Grand Slam results
Sabalenka is arguably the most consistent player on the WTA Tour right now as the world number one, and she has been particularly strong at Grand Slams.
The Belarusian has reached at least the quarter-finals of the last 14 consecutive major tournaments she has played, having missed Wimbledon in 2024 due to injury, and Sabalenka has also not lost a Grand Slam match in straight sets since the 2020 US Open.
Sabalenka has collected four Grand Slam titles in this time, but she has also had some disappointing losses.
From her last 10 losses at Grand Slam tournaments, Sabalenka has led after having won a set and been up a break in six of those, including the Australian Open final against Elena Rybakina earlier this year.
| Grand Slam | Aryna Sabalenka’s result |
| US Open 2022 | Semi-final – Lost to Iga Swiatek (1), 3-6 6-1 6-4 |
| Australian Open 2023 | Won the title |
| Roland Garros 2023 | Semi-final – Lost to Karolina Muchova, 7-6(5) 6(5)-7 7-5 |
| Wimbledon 2023 | Semi-final – Lost to Ons Jabeur (6), 6(5)-7 6-4 6-3 |
| US Open 2023 | Final – Lost to Coco Gauff (6), 2-6 6-3 6-2 |
| Australian Open 2024 | Won the title |
| Roland Garros 2024 | Quarter-final – Lost to Mirra Andreeva, 6(5)-7 6-4 6-4 |
| US Open 2024 | Won the title |
| Australian Open 2025 | Final – Lost to Madison Keys (19), 6-3 2-6 7-5 |
| Roland Garros 2025 | Final – Lost to Coco Gauff (2), 6(5)-7 6-2 6-4 |
| Wimbledon 2025 | Semi-final – Lost to Amanda Anisimova (13), 6-4 4-6 6-4 |
| US Open 2025 | Won the title |
| Australian Open 2026 | Final – Lost to Elena Rybakina (5), 6-4 4-6 6-4 |
| Roland Garros 2026 | Quarter-final – Lost to Diana Shnaider (25), 3-6 7-5 6-0 |
Sabalenka will hope to improve her Grand Slam title record at Wimbledon, which is the only major where she is yet to reach the final.
The 28-year-old will begin her grass court season at the Berlin Open, which begins on Monday, June 15, and features nine of the top 10 WTA players.
