Perhaps it is time for World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to take a break from tennis.
On Sunday, Sabalenka lost to World No. 14 Naomi Osaka, 2-6, 6-7(7), during the Round of 16 at Wimbledon. Per OptaAce, Osaka is the first player to beat Sabalenka in straight sets at a Grand Slam since she lost to Victoria Azarenka at the 2020 U.S. Open.
After dominating the tennis world for nearly five years now, Sabalenka just may be exhausted. She joked she wanted to “quit tennis” after losing to Diana Shnaider 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 in the French Open quarterfinal. She expressed a similar mood in her post-match news conference at Wimbledon.
“Ah, this question, guys. Let’s just look at the rankings. By now, I am world No. 1. Level-wise, today I wasn’t world No. 1. Yesterday, I was world No. 1,” Sabalenka said when asked if she feels she’s still the world’s No. 1 player (h/t The Tennis Letter). “I feel like I just, I don’t even want to think about ranking at this point. I just want to get completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape.”