Aryna Sabalenka says she fell into 'deep, dark hole' mentally in shock defeat to Diana Shnaider

[p]The Belarusian handled the blustery conditions to ‌win the opening set, forged a commanding lead in the second and was two points away from victory ‌when the contest began to turn, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/shnaider-diana/028BdVOj/"]Shnaider[/a] won the last 10 games ‌to prevail [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/shnaider-d-028BdVOj/?mid=Kx28rsbn"]3-6, 7-5, 6-0[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Sabalenka[/a] said she had no thoughts, felt no emotions and wanted to "quit ‌tennis right now" in the aftermath of the defeat as the four-times Grand ‌Slam champion hoped to get back on track mentally in the next few weeks.[/p][p]"I feel like I had very decent opportunities in the second set," Sabalenka told reporters.[/p][embed guid="ec2f4e38-43e5-4282-a1a2-2ded27106722" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnL-mKOT9C8&t=16s" social-type="youtube" /][p]"[b]I screwed up, and then she ‌stepped in and she played great. I feel like mentally ⁠I couldn't really recover after second set. ‌That really was the biggest mistake[/b].[/p][p]"[b]I don't know the last time I lost 10 games in ​a row ... I guess mentally I got into very deep, dark hole over there, and I just couldn't get back mentally on track[/b]."[/p][p]Sabalenka was puzzled ​by the decision to keep the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier open as the wind caused issues for both players, sweeping the red dirt into their face at ⁠times, and affecting their ability to ​control their shots throughout.[/p][p]"I don't know why would they keep the roof open when it was crazy windy," last year's runner-up Sabalenka added.[/p][p]"[b]But how can I complain if almost for the whole match everything was working okay for me, but then it just slipped ‌away. I feel like it was getting crazy maybe just because mentally I wasn't really okay[/b].[/p][p]"[b]Even though I was winning, it was dirty tennis. I don't know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play. Then at some point she stepped in, and she played unbelievable in those conditions[/b]."[/p][p]All of Sabalenka's Grand Slam wins have come on hardcourts, and she said she needed to crack the code on clay and grass.[/p][embed guid="6921922a-29f0-4034-99f8-0ec35532a6b7" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdUA97NNpwU" social-type="youtube" /][p]"[b]I really feel great on clay. I feel great on grass. I don't know, maybe I'm focusing too much that I've never won a slam on each surface, ‌and maybe it's making me overthink stuff, making me over-emotional in some moments[/b].[/p][p]"[b]This is ​something that I have to step back and try to find a solution ‌for, because I'm just so tired losing matches not in the best way, just because I was over-emotional[/b]."[/p][p]Sabalenka said she would look for a way through the setback, insisting that the experience would only make her stronger.[/p][p]"I figured how I can overcome it," she added with a smile.[/p][p]"[b]You know those rooms where you ⁠just go in and you smash everything? ⁠I'll probably spend the whole day ‌there tomorrow destroying stuff. Maybe it'll help, maybe not[/b]."[/p]