Sabalenka ‘fell into dark hole mentally’ in shock quarter-final loss

Sabalenka crumbles in French Open quarter-finalsFigure caption, Sabalenka shocked in French Open after Shnaider comebackByEmily SalleyBBC Sport journalistPublished3 June 2026, 14:53 BSTUpdated 55 minutes agoWorld number one Aryna Sabalenka says she fell into a “very deep, dark hole” mentally as she unravelled in a crushing quarter-final defeat by Diana Shnaider in yet another French Open shock.Sabalenka, a beaten finalist at Roland Garros last year, was 6-3 4-1 up before the momentum suddenly shifted and sparked an extraordinary comeback from Shnaider.The Russian 25th seed, playing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final, reeled off 12 of the final 13 games to win 3-6 7-5 6-0 and complete a monumental upset.”I don’t know when was the last time that I lost 10 games in a row,” Sabalenka mentioned.”Mentally I got into very deep, deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn’t get back on track.”Sabalenka had been the only Grand Slam singles champion remaining in an open women’s draw and was the heavy favourite for the title.Her defeat means Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva is the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw.Qualifier Chwalinska extends dream French Open run