Tennis legend Justine Henin has assessed that Aryna Sabalenka “lacked a bit of humility” in her shock defeat to Diana Shnaider at the 2026 French Open.

World No 1 Sabalenka collapsed to a 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 loss to 23rd-ranked Shnaider in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

In a match played in strong winds, Sabalenka looked on course for a comfortable win when she was up a double break at 4-1 in the second set.

The four-time Grand Slam champion then led 5-3 after Shnaider earned one break back, but she inexplicably lost the next 10 games from this position.

In the deciding set, Sabalenka committed 17 unforced errors and won only 14 of the 44 points as her 22-year-old Russian opponent surged to the biggest win of her career.

Sabalenka was the heavy favourite to win her maiden Roland Garros title heading into the quarter-finals after Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff — the other top four seeds — all fell before the last eight.

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Henin, who won the French Open four times, gave her reaction to Sabalenka’s alarming collapse on France Televisions. 

“She was unable to get into the match. She lacked a bit of humility at that moment,” said the former world No 1 (translated from French).

“Champions always have this mix of pride and ego, which allows them to get out of very complex situations, but also often a great deal of humility to be able to get into that fight.

“In the third set, she was unable to get back on track, to accept that she had lost that second set, to get back into the fight.”

The Belgian added: “If a screenwriter had offered us the chance to write this Roland Garros, it would never have been believable, we would never have accepted it.”

Speaking on the same channel, former world No 11 Alize Cornet offered a blunt verdict on Sabalenka’s performance in the third set.

“Beyond the shock of seeing Sabalenka eliminated in the quarter-finals, it’s also the way the match unfolded,” said the Frenchwoman.

“She was leading 6-3, 5-3, she served for the match, she had an easy volley that she missed, and from then on, she completely collapsed.

“I’d say that third set wasn’t worthy of a world number one. It’s true that Shnaider’s level increased, she was aggressive, she hit a lot of winners, but we saw far too many unforced errors from Aryna Sabalenka.

“And in the end, the best player prevailed, but what an incredible turn of events!”

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