Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match press conference began with an honest confession. After leading the match for a considerable time, looking all set for a routine straight-set win, the match turned into a horror show as last year’s runner-up was knocked out of the French Open after losing 10 games in a row to Diana Shnaider. Following this, she didn’t resort to mincing her words and gave a blunt reply when asked about her feelings.

“No thoughts, no emotions. Just want to quit tennis right now,” said Sabalenka at her press conference when asked about the match. “But we’ll see. We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully, I’ll get back on track mentally.”

The Belarusian looked distraught and devastated, and even admitted that the match had shades of last year’s final against Coco Gauff in Paris, when strong winds made her shots less accurate. In her press conference after the Shnaider loss, Sabalenka stated that she was determined to find a solution to the problem, which seems to be surfacing slightly more often in big matches at Grand Slams, and she counted on her experience to find the path ahead.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. I just have to sit back and openly think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments”, said Sabalenka. “I’m quite an experienced player, I’ve been through so many things and overcome so many things, and I just have to figure out that little thing that sometimes isn’t working for me – and hopefully I can overcome it.”

The Belarusian even admitted to needing an outlet for venting her frustrations, as she said: “By the way, I just figured out how I can overcome it – one of those rooms where you go in and smash everything. Probably I’ll spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not.”

Sabalenka has always been her honest and candid version after big losses. After losing the final at the French Open last year, she took all the blame on herself, which drew criticism from some quarters, who thought she was not crediting Gauff enough. But that has never been the case, as was seen in the press conference after the Australian Open final. The first words Sabalenka spoke were an appreciation for the great game the Kazakh had played in the match, and the current World No.1 took a more philosophical approach, saying, “that’s tennis.”

Tennis players have often been seen smashing their rackets on court to let their emotions out, then getting back to their matches, as we have seen in recent cases with Daniil Medvedev in Monte-Carlo and Coco Gauff at the Australian Open. However, it seems like Sabalenka was just too dazed to even do that during her match.

Aryna Sabalenka Discloses Her Mindset During French Open Meltdown

Sabalenka openly admitted in the press conference that she had lost her mental edge during the third set, when her game on court went into an absolute freefall. ” Yeah, I don’t know when the last time was that happened to me that I lost 10 games in a row, but um, I don’t know. I guess mentally I got into a very deep, deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn’t get back, mentally, on track”.

It makes sense as Sabalenka was so close to victory, as she had wrapped the first set as expected and had a healthy lead in the second set. Even though the Russian clawed back, the Belarusian was two points away from victory while serving at 5-4 (30-0). Once the match turned at that point, the top seed never got back her flow of shots.

The Belarusian also discussed the conditions and argued for the roof to be closed during strong winds. However, one could also argue that conditions were equal for both opponents as they were back in the final against Coco Gauff last year. Back then, it was Gauff’s athletic ability and grinding style of play that made Sabalenka string together a series of unforced errors. In contrast, Shnaider showed excellent court coverage in this match. But she was ferociously aggressive in her forehand, hitting winners of that wing at will.

This is now a few Grand Slam matches in a row where Sabalenka has been visibly flustered, including the Gauff final in Paris last year and the semifinal loss to Amanda Anisimova at Wimbledon. One will also not forget that the Belarusian let go of a 3-1 advantage in the final set of the Australian Open final against Elena Rybakina, where once again she was not at her best in showing a poker face on court. Losing this year in Paris also robs the World No.1 of a golden opportunity of winning a non-hard court Major as all her main opponents had already bowed of the tournament.

One expects that the World No.1 will quickly regroup herself and be prepared for the grass-court season, a surface where she has yet to win a title in her career.