Aryana Sabalenka suffers earliest tournament exit in 15 months with Italian Open loss
· Yahoo Sports
ROME — Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, has suffered her earliest tournament exit in 15 months after a third-round defeat to Sorana Cîrstea at the Italian Open.
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Sabalenka appeared on course for a routine win on Saturday when a set and 2-0 up, but some erratic hitting and an inspired opponent conspired to leave Sabalenka coming to terms with only a third defeat of the year. She also required a medical timeout for what appeared to be a lower-back injury midway through the third set. A potential concern with the French Open getting under way in a couple of weeks on May 24.
You have to go back to the February 2025 Qatar Open for the last time Sabalenka lost earlier in a tournament, and to the Dubai Tennis Championships the same month for the last time she didn’t make the quarterfinals of an event. Coupled with last week’s Madrid Open quarterfinal loss to Hayley Baptiste, Sabalenka has lost two of her last three matches — almost out of nowhere.
As inconsistent as Sabalenka was, Cîrstea deserves a huge amount of credit for playing so fearlessly to ultimately prevail 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. It’s not uncommon for Sabalenka to perform sluggishly in the early rounds of tournaments, but she is almost always able to find a way through, normally in straight sets. To stand a chance, Cîrstea had to refuse to be intimidated by Sabalenka’s phenomenally powerful hitting and considerable aura.
Fortunately for Cîrstea, defiance is one of her defining characteristics. Aged 36 and in her final year on the tour, the Romanian world No. 27 has built a reputation as a fearsome competitor. At the Australian Open in January, she complained to the umpire about Naomi Osaka saying “come on” to herself between her first and second serves and then gave the four-time Grand Slam champion a very frosty handshake after losing the match.
Cîrstea needed that defiance to drag herself back into the match when down 6-2, 2-0 and looking as though she was heading for a swift defeat. At this point her suddenly immaculate ballstriking helped her take over the match, neutralising Sabalenka’s serve and dominating from the baseline with the accuracy and weight of her shots. From the first to the second set, Sabalenka went from winning 68 per cent of her first serve points to 39. Sabalenka ended the match with a tally of 59 per cent first serve points won, her lowest of the year.
With one of her biggest weapons blunted, Sabalenka started to go for too much and ended up making wild errors, the kind she used to before becoming the absurdly consistent winning machine of the last few years. One for whom early tournament exits have become basically non-existent.
Until Saturday, when after battling back to win the second set, Cîrstea broke immediately at the start of the decider. Sabalenka broke back, but Cîrstea did so again. Even shrugging off the disappointment of missing a sitter of a backhand when up break point a couple of points earlier. Sabalenka was furious, asking her team to give her some encouragement.
After holding for 4-3, Sabalenka took that medical timeout, while Cîrstea went over to her support team, which included her good friend and the world No. 12 Belinda Bencic. Sabalenka was wincing in pain as she returned to the court and initially looked far from comfortable. She somehow managed to find a second wind though and broke back for 5-5, with Cîrstea failing to serve out the match having been two points from victory when up 5-4, 30-30. Not for nothing is Sabalenka regarded by many as the toughest competitor in the sport. But Cîrstea earned herself a second chance to serve it out, breaking once more to leave Sabalenka railing at her box again at the change of ends. This time there was no mistake, a Sabalenka backhand sailing long to end the contest after two hours and 12 minutes.
Cîrstea has spoken about wanting to enjoy her final year on tour, and she certainly revelled in her role of giantkiller on Saturday. This win also made her the oldest player to defeat a world No. 1 on clay, and playing with this kind of freedom and clarity she’s someone no one on the tour will relish facing. She’ll next face the world No. 13 Linda Nosková in the fourth round on Monday.
For Sabalenka, the premature loss here and the relatively early defeat in Madrid represents the worst form she’s been in since those disappointing results last February. Throw in the injury concern and suddenly the world No. 1 has a fair amount to contend with going into the second Grand Slam of the year. A tournament she’s yet to win, after losing in last year’s final to Coco Gauff.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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