Aryna Sabalenka expressed feelings of quitting tennis following a shocking defeat to Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarter-finals. The world number one seemed poised for victory, leading by a set and 4-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier, but faltered dramatically, losing 12 of the next 13 games to end the match at 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

After the match, Sabalenka stated, "No thoughts, no emotions. I just want to quit tennis right now. We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally." This marked only the second time in her last 14 grand slams that she failed to reach at least the semi-finals, highlighting ongoing struggles with her mental game.

Key points from the match and Sabalenka's reaction include:

• Last year’s final loss to Coco Gauff still haunts her, where she faced criticism for her emotional response.
• Sabalenka noted, "I don’t know when was the last time that happened to me that I lost 10 games in a row."
• She acknowledged falling into a "deep, dark hole" mentally, expressing frustration over her emotional responses during matches.

On how she plans to cope, she joked about smashing things in a room to relieve her anger. Despite her defeat, she praised Shnaider for her impressive performance, particularly in the third set.

Shnaider’s victory leaves the women’s tournament without any previous grand slam finalists, marking a historical first since 1977. In an unexpected semi-final, Shnaider will face Maja Chwalinska, who has also made waves by reaching this stage after only winning one main-draw match at any slam prior to this tournament.

Chwalinska, inspired by Emma Raducanu’s triumph as a qualifier, reflected on her journey, stating, "I was struggling a lot." After a four-month break due to depression, she is now on the brink of doubling her career prize money, having secured 750,000 euros for reaching the semifinals.