Aryna Sabalenka’s quarterfinal exit at the 2026 French Open was a shocker to many. After cruising to a 6-3, 4-1 lead over 22-year-old No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider, the world No. 1 eventually found herself just two points away from victory before the match turned, and she lost 12 of the final 13 games to bow out 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
In her post-match press conference, Sabalenka admitted to falling into a “deep, dark hole” and said she just wanted to quit tennis. Recently, four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters shared her thoughts on what went wrong for Sabalenka, calling it a textbook case of “self-sabotage.”
Kim Clijsters’ Honest Verdict on Aryna Sabalenka After Her French Open Collapse
Sabalenka’s 2026 season had been going somewhat well, with wins at WTA 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami and at the WTA 500 event in Brisbane while maintaining a firm grip on the world No. 1 spot. Yet, she had a meltdown against Shnaider at Roland-Garros, which was similar to her 2023 US Open final defeat against Coco Gauff, in which Sabalenka dominated the first set before the pressure led to unforced errors and a defeat against the American.
Speaking on Sabalenka’s quarterfinal match on the “Love All” podcast, Clijsters said, “She completely self-sabotaged it. It just shows it doesn’t matter how well you’ve been playing or what you’ve won in the past; no matter who you play, they have a chance because we all, at times, feel like we’re not playing great.”
According to Clijsters, Sabalenka’s issue is an obsession with perfection, which is dangerous on a surface as unpredictable as clay.
Clijsters also recalled a different version of Sabalenka, when she was a match point down in Indian Wells against Rybakina and fought back.
“But then you see her self-sabotage and make herself doubt because things aren’t going perfectly. That’s what I think the clay can do to you. It can make you feel so out of place and frustrated. And she’s never been shy about showing her frustrations and her excitement, but she completely destroyed herself,” added Clijsters.
Following the match, Sabalenka vividly described her overwhelming frustration, joking that she would find a “smash room” to destroy things for a whole day.
For Clijsters, it was understandable. Sabalenka’s frustration comes from the exhaustion of fighting her own perfectionism when the conditions refuse to cooperate.
“These kinds of moments stick with you as you move on to the next one. You try to forget about it, but maybe when she plays her again, there are little moments that stay in your head, and you just have to try to get through it.
For Sabalenka, the task ahead is now the next Grand Slam, Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, June 29, in London.
