World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka suffers surprise defeat by Sorana Cirstea at Italian Open

ROME – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was dumped out of the Italian Open in the third round when she suffered a surprise 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss to 27th-ranked Sorana Cirstea of Romania on May 9.

The Belarusian, who was knocked out in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on April 28, seemed troubled by an injury.

Following a medical timeout in the third set, the four-time Major champion rallied but it was not enough to defeat Cirstea, who had earlier announced that this will be her swansong season.

“I’m very happy with the win. I thought I played very well today. Again, working really, really hard, so it’s nice to have this result to stay on,” said Cirstea.

Asked if she will reconsider her decision to retire after the biggest win of her career, the 36-year-old, who will face Linda Noskova next, said: “Maybe if I win the tournament, I promise that I will think about it.”

Sabalenka looked set for a quick and clean win on centre court after romping to the first set, but errors and grumbling soon began to creep in, in particular on her service game.

Cirstea broke Sabalenka’s serve three times on her way to levelling the match and she continued to pose problems heading into the decisive third.

Sabalenka lost her serve for the fifth time after saving three break points to go 3-2 behind in the third set, and two games later the 28-year-old called for a medical timeout for a problem with her left hip.

Treatment appeared to get Sabalenka back into the groove once she drew level at 5-5 in the set.

But Cirstea held her nerve to win the next two games, sealing her first-ever win over a woman at the top of the world rankings with her first match point.

Earlier, defending champion Jasmine Paolini was also ousted, with the home favourite knocked out in the third round by Belgium’s Elise Mertens.

The Italian lost 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to Mertens, following an error-strewn performance in front of disappointed fans on centre court.

The 30-year-old is set to drop out of the top 10 of the women’s world rankings after failing to reach the fourth round of a fourth consecutive tournament.

Paolini, a French Open and Wimbledon finalist in 2024, won both the women’s singles and doubles tournaments in Rome in 2025, but has looked a shadow of that player this season with a string of early exits.

Her fate turned on her failure to capitalise on three match-points against serve at 6-5 in the second set, after which she lost the first two points of the tiebreak and never recovered from there.

“I didn’t make the most of my chances, I needed to keep a clearer head, keep my cool better in those moments,” Paolini told reporters.

“I’m very disappointed to lose but there were moments in which I felt good on the court and I was competitive and positive.”

Mertens, who partnered Veronika Kudermetova in the 2025 women’s doubles final, where they lost to Paolini and Sara Errani, could face eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in the next round.

Coco Gauff, beaten by Paolini in the 2025 singles final, took over two hours to beat Argentina’s Solana Sierra 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.

The world No. 4 and reigning French Open champion will face either her fellow American Taylor Townsend, a qualifier, or Iva Jovic in the next round.

Gauff has struggled on clay this season, with a last-16 exit in the Madrid Open coming after a disappointing run to the quarter-finals in Stuttgart.

The 22-year-old said: “It’s one of those days where you don’t feel great and you have to play a match. I’m happy I got through it.”

In the men’s draw on May 8, Novak Djokovic slumped to an early elimination, crumbling to a second-round defeat by qualifier Dino Prizmic and leaving questions about his physical condition ahead of Roland Garros.

The Serbian veteran was sent packing by the big-hitting Croat, who claimed the biggest scalp of his young career with a stunning 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win on centre court in Rome.

Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam winner, was making his comeback from a shoulder injury in the last big tournament before the French Open, which starts on May 24.

And the world No. 4 was unsure if he would be back to his best for the clay-court Grand Slam.

“Let’s see what happens,” said the 38-year-old, who lamented persistent physical problems in the twilight of his stellar career.

“I don’t recall the last time in the last couple of years of preparation where I didn’t have any physical issues coming into a tournament. It’s always something, it’s kind of a new reality that I have to deal with.”

Prizmic, 20, has beaten two top-10 players in weeks. He defeated the sixth-ranked Ben Shelton in the second round in Madrid in April.

After beating his idol, Prizmic will face Frenchman Ugo Humbert next for a chance to make the fourth round of a Masters 1000 event for the first time. AFP