New Delhi: Aryna Sabalenka dreams of her first win French Open The title ended in dramatic fashion as the world No. 1 suffered a stunning defeat in the quarter-finals after throwing away a commanding lead.Sabalenka looked firmly in control against Diana Schneider, winning the first set and going 4-1 up in the second. Serving for the match, she was just two points away from victory. However, the Belarusian completely lost her rhythm as Schneider staged a stunning comeback to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 and reach her first Grand Slam semi-final. The defeat left Sabalenka seemingly devastated and questioning his mentality after yet another massive collapse on the biggest stage.“Just want to quit tennis now,” Sabalenka said. “We’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I’ll be back mentally.”See:The match echoed Sabalenka’s painful loss to Coco Goff in the French Open final last year, where she also won the opening set before unforced errors derailed her challenge. Against Schneider, frustration mounted on a pile of errors and she lost 12 of the last 13 games.“You know those rooms where you just walk in and you break everything,” Sablenka said. “I’ll probably spend all day tomorrow destroying stuff in there. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not.”Reflecting on the defeat, she added: “I just think it’s a combination of everything. You think too much, then you make easy mistakes, then you miss opportunities.”Schneider admitted that he noticed his opponent’s emotions during the match but remained focused on his game.“Of course I saw some of his moments of frustration,” Schneider said. “I know Irina, that she is a very emotional person.”Schneider will now face unseeded Maja Chalinska, who continued her fairy-tale run with a win over Anna Kalinskaya. Cholenska became the second Polish woman to reach the semifinals of Roland Garros after Iga Swiatek.The tournament has produced several major upsets, including defending champion Coco Goff, four-time winner Iga Svitek, Janak Sner and Novak Djokovic all over. According to Opta, this is the first Grand Slam without a former champion in either the men’s or women’s semifinals since the 1977 French Open.
