Difficult, really difficult to imagine what happened this Saturday at the Foro Italico in Rome, where the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, retired eliminated by a player who will hang up her racket at the end of the year, Sorana Cirstea. Are you sure? “Well, if I win the tournament maybe I’ll reconsider it…”, jokes the Romanian, a regular in the mid-tier of the pack in recent seasons and now benefiting from the doubts that have suddenly surrounded the Belarusian. In the blink of an eye, the Minsk native suffers — she already took a blow in Madrid — fears for the ranking — Elena Rybakina, second, could take a juicy bite these days — and physically declines. Roland Garros looms in two weeks.
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“I try to tell myself that you never lose, you only learn,” she tries to put it into perspective after the 2-6, 6-3 and 7-5 suffered against Cirstea, 36 years old and who, facing the disjointed and jerky game of the circuit’s governor, proposes the characteristic hallmark: neither hot nor cold, always steady. She, a neutral tennis player. That will be the case until the final stretch. Sabalenka, on the other hand, seems to have plunged during this clay tour into those old times of so many extremes, without continuity and driven only by the inspiration of her shots. Most days it’s enough, but again not. Insufficient. She did not shine at the Caja Mágica, where she was defeated by Hailey Baptiste (25th), and succumbs again against all odds.
To the deficient proposal, concern is added, as during the match she calls for the physio and complains of back and side pain. She will later specify: “The problem is in the lumbar area, connected to the hip, so it limits the full rotation movement.” Again without good feelings, she has lost serve up to six times — as already happened against Baptiste — and takes another good beating. She starts strong, but loses the good path and ends up giving in. “I haven’t played well from the start. Although I started winning, I quickly realized that my body didn’t allow me to compete as I wanted,” she reasons. “And she is a fighter, she could keep playing longer,” she adds.
Cirstea is the oldest player to beat a number one on clay, and while she debates whether to continue or not — “it’s a great victory, but only a third round; we’ll see what life has in store for me…” — the Belarusian leaves with her head down because lately she has been losing steam. To a certain extent logical, on the other hand. Clay is not her natural habitat — only three of her 30 titles have been on this surface, all three in Madrid — and her chassis now suffers from such an overwhelming and aggressive proposal; very close to the mishap, by the way, to Roland Garros. She has two weeks to recover and care, and only one idea crosses her mind: handbrake. “I guess I’ll have to rest, that’s the plan.”
Ambitious like few or none, her stellar path until March — trophy in Brisbane, final in Melbourne and double in Indian Wells and Miami; fifth in history to achieve it — has been followed by the bumps of April and May, stumbling here and there. She had to withdraw from Stuttgart due to physical problems and the trail left in the last two tournaments is not flattering at all, also considering that Paris still resists her — she lost last year’s final against Coco Gauff — and that she hadn’t fallen so early in a tournament of this category (1000) since 2024 (Miami). After 23 wins and only one loss in the first quarter, comes a double stumble that sows questions about her arrival at Bois de Boulogne.
Right now, her throne is not in danger. The lead over Rybakina is 1,405 points, but if the Kazakh — scheduled this Sunday against the Filipino Alexandra Eala — has a good performance in the Italian capital, it could be in the air. Her farewell was the news of the day, although the local fans regretted the goodbye of their best player and champion of the last edition, Jasmine Paolini. The 30-year-old Italian could not beat the Belgian Elise Mertens (4-6, 7-6(5) and 6-3) and will soon no longer be among the top ten of the WTA list; specifically, the setback will cost her a drop of at least five places, from eight to thirteen, if not more.
THE SPANIARDS, NEAR PERFECT
After a discouraging start, having lost five representatives at once, Spanish tennis found balm this Saturday thanks to the victories of Alejandro Davidovich, Martín Landaluce and Pablo Llamas. Three out of four. Only Roberto Bautista gave in (6-4 and 6-0 to Brandon Nakashima).
Davidovich defeated Cristian Garín in a balanced duel (7-6(2) and 6-4, in 1h 54m), while Landaluce overcame veteran Marin Cilic thanks to a magnificent performance (double 6-4, after 2h 07m) and virtually rises to 88th place, his best ranking.
The Madrid native will face Italian Mattia Bellucci and the Malaga native will face Andrey Rublev. The focus, however, now turns to Llamas, who in his second experience in a Masters 1000, has already achieved two victories. It is his first win against a top-30, Corentin Moutet: 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6(4), in 3h 02m.
Llamas, 23 years old and persistently attacked by injuries, wrist and elbow, defeated the Frenchman (30th) in a thrilling battle. His progress at the Foro Italico allows him to climb to 122nd place and on Monday he will face Daniil Medvedev, exempt from the first round and now benefiting from Tomas Machac’s withdrawal.
On the other hand, Jannik Sinner debuted flawlessly. The 24-year-old Italian defeated Sebastian Offner 6-3 and 6-4 and will meet Jakub Mensik in the next round. In the women’s draw, Gauff also advanced, forced to come back against Argentine Solana Sierra: 5-7, 6-0 and 6-4.
This Sunday, Rafael Jódar will face Matteo Arnaldi in the last match on the center court (not before 8:30 p.m., Movistar+). Also participating will be stars Alexander Zverev (Blockx) or Iga Swiatek (Cocciaretto). According to the forecast, rain could disrupt the course of the day.
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