Aryna Sabalenka Reveals What Led To Illness Before Surprising French Open Loss
News
Aryna Sabalenka's French Open quarterfinal defeat to Mirra Andreeva was a rare disappointment for her in 2024. The WTA world No. 1 has revealed for the first time what led to an illness she had in that match.
Sabalenka, who won a high-quality third-round match at the ongoing Australian Open, has never been to the final of the French Open. She looked to be in good shape last year after straight-set triumphs in her opening four contests at Roland Garros.
The Belarusian started as a heavy favorite against teenage prodigy Andreeva, competing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. But Sabalenka's chances were significantly hampered by being ill throughout the match.
Incredibly, Sabalenka still made the match competitive despite being unable to compete at close to 100%. Andreeva had to survive some nervy moments before eventually prevailing 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
In a press conference after her third-round victory at the Australian Open, Sabalenka said she became ill before her match against Andreeva after eating undercooked meat.
"Like a day before, I had pretty rare meat. You know, I usually go for medium well, and I ask for medium well, but I think it wasn't cooked enough, and yeah, I think I just, yeah, my stomach didn't like that. And yeah, I felt really bad after on the next day, so now I'm making sure that the meat is cooked well."
That unfortunate incident stopped Sabalenka's pursuit of a maiden French Open title in its tracks. She is a three-time Grand Slam champion. Two of those came at the Australian Open, and the other was at last year's US Open.
The world No. 1 has yet to win a Grand Slam outside hard courts. She came agonizingly close to reaching the 2023 final at Roland-Garros but lost an epic semifinal to Karolina Muchova 7-5 in the third set.
Last year's defeat undoubtedly hurt a lot as well. While Mirra Andreeva and Jasmine Paolini(who beat Andreeva in the semifinal) are great players, Sabalenka would have been the favorite to beat both women if she was not ill.
The illness may have prevented a final between Sabalenka and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek. While it is impossible to know for sure, it seems likely that Sabalenka would have competed better in the final against Swiatek than Paolini did.
Their extraordinary Madrid Open final, held a month before the French Open began, shows how hard Sabalenka can push Swiatek on clay. After saving three match points in one of the best women's matches ever, the Pole prevailed in a deciding set tiebreak.
The opposite dynamic exists at the Australian Open. Sabalenka is the two-time defending champion, while Swiatek has yet to reach the final of the season's opening Grand Slam. Her best effort to date was a run to the semifinal in 2022.
Despite being ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings, Sabalenka and Swiatek get along well off the court. Sabalenka recently discussed how their relationship has changed.
