Aryna Sabalenka suffered a quarterfinal loss to Diana Shnaider at the French Open after squandering a strong lead. Rennae Stubbs, who once coached Serena Williams, attributed the defeat to the world No. 1's emotional outbursts on court.
Sabalenka took the first set 6-3 and led 5-3 in the second before Shnaider mounted a comeback. The Russian won the final 10 games to secure a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 victory. Stubbs addressed the collapse on her podcast. “Why at a set and 4-1 would you show any negativity at all? I don’t understand it. It was all her fault,” she said, adding that Sabalenka’s reputation in the locker room is that she can give opponents several games once she loses focus. The Belarusian has since entered the Berlin Open, where she holds a 4-5 record in five prior appearances. Her 2026 season record stands at 31-4 with three titles.