Tennis great has interesting theory behind Aryna Sabalenka’s French Open ‘meltdown’ after unexpected defeat

Women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered a shock defeat in the quarter-finals of the French Open at Roland Garros.

Sabalenka was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 by Russian 25th seed Diana Shnaider in a dramatic last-eight match on Wednesday.

The Belarusian 28-year-old was the clear favourite after beating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Elsa Jacquemot, Daria Kasatkina and Naomi Osaka without dropping a set.

Her surprising collapse in the third set on Court Philipp Chatrier struggled to get to grips with windy tennis conditions in Paris and her game fell apart from a commanding position in the middle of the second set.

Former world number one Chris Evert, on duty with TNT Sports at Roland Garros, couldn't believe what she was watching.

"I have never seen her be up a set and 4-1, playing pretty well and all of a sudden her game goes to demise," Evert said after the match, as reported by Tennis365.

"This was her dream tournament; she has dreamt about this all year. All of a sudden she lost her feel. It is quite unbelievable.

"I don’t think she has learnt how to play in the wind. The wind requires footwork, adjustment steps around the ball, wind wreaks havoc on the ball. You have to wait to the last second to set your feet and hit the ball."

Conditions aside, Evert offered another theory to explain Sabalenka's surprising decline.

With the field opening up and the likes of Jessica Pagula, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and defending champion Coco Gauff all out, Sabalenka might have felt the pressure to add the French Open to her Grand Slam wins at the Australian Open and US Open after falling at the final hurdle in 2025.

"Maybe that was in the back of her mind, ‘I have to win this now’. There could be a million reasons why it wasn’t her week," said Evert.

History beckons for the French Open finalists

Sabalenka's elimination means that 22-year-old Shnaider will face qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the semi-final.

The Polish player, who soared into the top 50 in the world by reaching the last eight and continued her extraordinary rise into the top 30 of the Live WTA Rankings by beating Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets on Wednesday, had never previously been further than the second round of a major.

Shnaider matched her best Grand Slam performance by reaching the third round of the Australian Open earlier this year; both potential finalists are in uncharted territory.

In the other semi-final, Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk will play eighth seed Mirra Andreeva after their quarter-final victories over Elina Svitolina and Sorana Cirstea respectively.

Like both possible final opponents, the two seeded semi-finalists are on their deepest ever tournament runs in a major.