World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka misplaced to Sorana Cirstea within the third spherical of the Italian Open, her second loss in three matches.
The Belarusian misplaced to Haley Baptiste within the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open on April 28, lacking six match factors and struggling her second lack of the yr.
And simply 11 days later, Sabalenka’s French Open preparations suffered one other blow when she misplaced to No. 27 Cirstea of Romania, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
It was Sabalenka’s earliest loss since February 2025 on the Dubai Championships, ending a streak of 17 consecutive tournaments the place she reached the quarter-finals or above.
The 28-year-old took a medical timeout late within the third set in Rome to deal with her decrease again, however was under her greatest for a lot of the match.
“I do not suppose we performed nicely from begin to end,” Sabalenka mentioned.
“I felt like my physique was limiting my skill to carry out on the highest stage.”
With the loss, Sabalenka heads into this month’s French Open with a file of 4 wins and a couple of losses on clay.
Sabalenka misplaced to Coco Gauff in final yr’s Roland Garros ultimate, making 70 unforced errors in a efficiency she described as “the worst ultimate I’ve ever performed.”
Sabalenka received two units and broke the veteran Cirstea, who’s retiring on the finish of this season.
She additionally broke the 36-year-old on Thursteer’s serve for the match at 5-4 within the third set, however the benefit was shortly given again within the subsequent recreation.
Sabalenka’s serve was probably the most improved a part of her recreation and key to her rise to the highest of the rankings, however she was damaged six instances all through the match.
She hit 72% of her first serves, however received simply 56% of her subsequent factors, and solely received 11 of her 26 factors on second serves.
Sabalenka misplaced 5 video games in a row and was robbed of the second set, then suffered an instantaneous breakdown within the decider after which continued to pound the ball in frustration.
She responded within the subsequent recreation, however her service recreation at all times felt shaky, and a large forehand gave Thurstair a break lead at 3-2.
Sabalenka referred to as a coach to stretch her again at 4-3 down. She then seemed to be making a comeback after stopping Thursteer from serving out the match at his first request.
Nonetheless, Cirstea made an incredible comeback to regain the lead and transformed her first match level because of Sabalenka’s lengthy return.
Earlier, defending champion and residential favourite Jasmine Paolini misplaced to Belgium’s Elise Mertens 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
