Tennis legend Venus Williams showed class with response to Aryna Sabalenka's loss

May 30, 2026; Paris, France; Aryna Sabalenka wins her match against Daria Kasatkina of Australia on day seven at Stade Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-Imagn Images© Susan Mullane-Imagn Images&period;

Tennis legend Venus Williams showed class with response to Aryna Sabalenka's loss

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jun 3, 2026 3:00 PM ET

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Aryna Sabalenka's bid to win her first Roland Garros title ended in catastrophic fashion this week.

Sabalenka won the first set 6-3 and was serving for the match at 5-4 before she dropped 10 consecutive games to Diana Shnaider. It was the type of collapse that you don't expect to see from one of the best players the WTA Tour has seen in recent years.

After dropping Wednesday's quarterfinal match at Roland Garros, Sabalenka had a brutally honest press conference.

"No thoughts, no emotions," Sabalenka told reporters. "Just want to quit tennis right now. ... What doesn’t kill you makes you strong. At some point I will have to figure this out. I wanna go to one of those rooms, go in and smash everything. Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow. Maybe it will help, maybe not."

Sabalenka has to stay positive.

The legendary Venus Williams was on TNT's panel this Wednesday to recap the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. When asked about Sabalenka's loss to Shnaider, she offered some kind words to the No. 1 player in the world.

"I was feeling sad actually. I was kinda like.. I got taken on her emotions. A lot of empathy for her. And she leaves it all on the court. You see everything she feels on the court. Perhaps maybe take a little more time if you need to before the press conference, because I don’t think she wants to quit tennis. That would be a tragedy for tennis and a tragedy for her. But when you lose it’s just so, like, ugh. The inner struggle is real," Williams said.

"I like that she lets us in, lets us be a part of her world in that way. What happened today happens to every player at some point in time. And it hurts. The worst part is that you let your own self down. And to deal with letting yourself down is the hardest thing in the world. If you just get beat, you just got beat. If somebody wiped you off the court, you got beat, they played better… You can deal with that. But right now she’s dealing with her own disappointment. It’s hard to sleep at night with that. What I’ll also say is that any of us would take the year she’s had. I think she’s just amplifying in this moment. But she’s had a great year. I don’t think she should have any regrets. This should make her stronger."

Williams has dealt with plenty of heartbreak and triumph in her career, so her words should resonate with Sabalenka.

Will Sabalenka turn things around in time for Wimbledon? Only time will tell.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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