Aryna Sabalenka’s Coach Shares Honest Opinion About Her Wanting to ‘Quit Tennis’ After French Open Heartbreak

Aryna Sabalenka was left with “no thoughts” and “no emotions” after she lost her French Open quarterfinal match to Diana Shnaider in a dramatic fashion. Despite a healthy lead, the Belarusian ace lost 10 games in a row and even registered a bagel in the deciding set.

What was more shocking was her comments during the press conference. A dejected Sabalenka said she just wanted to “quit tennis” and release her frustrations by destroying everything.

Sabalenka is in Berlin to start her campaign on grass. During the pre-tournament press conference, she revealed that she had spoken to a therapist to know what keeps happening to her during these tough defeats. And now, her performance coach, Jason Stacy, shared his thoughts about Sabalenka’s meltdown.

Honestly, I don’t think I had any emotion behind it at all. Overall, I realized what’s happening. She just lost the way; she lost all those kind of things. We’re just gonna let her go through that process, experience what she needs to give her some space, and when it’s time, we’ll catch up, and we’ll what’s what’s really going on, what’s left over, but I didn’t really have too much emotion.

Jason Stacy told Tennis365

Sabalenka finished as the runner-up in last year’s French Open. She squandered a set lead and lost to Coco Gauff. Then in the Australian Open final this year, Sabalenka failed to defeat Elena Rybakina.

Obviously part of me wanted to run and help her. Obviously, we want to come and help and rescue people, but also the other part is: You [have] just got to let them go through it and figure it out. I felt bad, obviously, for the whole team; they didn’t like experiencing that, but I didn’t really feed it much. She’s left her heart on her sleeve, and said, ‘Here I am.’

Jason Stacy added

Sabalenka will start her Berlin campaign on June 17. She will face Ekaterina Alexandrova, against whom she holds a 4-4 head-to-head record.

Aryna Sabalenka is trying to dig deep into her brain to know the problem

During the pre-tournament press conference in Berlin, Aryna Sabalenka said talking to a therapist was really helpful as it “changed a lot of things” for her. At present, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion is in a searching process.

I feel like that’s the key to staying at the top: always searching for something, for that little one percent that’s going to bring a lot of good things and is going to make a great impact. I’m always searching. I know that I don’t have to change a lot. I know my strengths; I know my weaknesses. I try to stay pretty clear about the whole image, the whole picture, of what’s happening. 

Sabalenka has lifted three titles from four finals this year. She defended her title at the Brisbane International by beating Marta Kostyuk, before losing the Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina.

Then, after skipping the two WTA 1000 events in the Middle East Swing, Sabalenka completed the Sunshine Double by beating Rybakina and Coco Gauff in the Indian Wells and the Miami Open finals. Since then, Sabalenka has yet to reach a semifinal.

The 28-year-old will be hoping to win her career’s first grass-court title in Berlin. She has so far played two finals on the surface (the 2018 Eastbourne International and the 2022 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships).

At Wimbledon, Sabalenka is a three-time semifinalist, reaching the stage in 2021, 2023, and 2025. Last year, she lost to eventual runner-up Amanda Anisimova. The American ace later lost the final 6-0,6-0 to Iga Swiatek.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner Warned They ‘Won’t Be Able to Rest Easy Anymore’ After Alexander Zverev’s French Open Win