Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka suffered a defeat in three sets on Saturday, experiencing her second early elimination in a row after a near flawless start to the year.
Published on: May 09, 2026 19:30
Reading time: 1 min
Aryna Sabalenka is struggling to find her footing on clay courts. After being knocked out in the quarter-finals in Madrid against American Hailey Baptiste, the world number 1 was eliminated in the third round of the WTA 1000 in Rome, the final important event before Roland-Garros (from May 24 to June 7), on Saturday, May 9, against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, the 27th world player (2-6, 6-3, 7-5).
Despite being dominant in the first set, as expected, and securing an early break in the second, the Belarusian then abruptly faltered. Clearly affected by a hip injury, which forced her to seek medical support during the third set, she ultimately lost the second and third sets.
This is only her third defeat of the season, but the second on clay after a near-perfect start to the year with a final appearance at the Australian Open and titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells, and Miami. After reaching the quarter-finals in Rome last year following a victory in Madrid, the runner-up of the previous Roland-Garros will not approach the French Open with the same level of confidence this time.
/2026/05/09/69ff6737ac1dd483952306.jpg&description=Tennis%3A+Two+weeks+before+Roland){kind=link}