Rome : Aryna Sabalenka arrives at the French Open as world number one but carrying injury concerns and uncertainty over her form on clay as she pursues a first Roland Garros title.
The Belarusian remains one of the most powerful players on the women’s tour, with four Grand Slam titles — two at the Australian Open and two at the US Open — but success on clay has continued to elude her.
Sabalenka came close to ending that wait last year when she led by a set in the French Open final before Coco Gauff fought back to win a physically demanding contest marked by 100 unforced errors combined between the two players.
The 28-year-old appeared nearly unstoppable at the start of 2026, winning 26 of her opening 27 matches, with her only defeat coming against Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.
She then captured the “Sunshine Double” by defeating Rybakina and Gauff in the finals at Indian Wells and Miami.
However, her form dipped sharply after the switch to clay.
Sabalenka suffered a surprise quarter-final defeat by Hailey Baptiste in Madrid despite holding six match points, before losing in the third round in Rome to Sorana Cirstea.
The loss to Cirstea raised further concerns after Sabalenka required treatment from the physio for a lower back problem linked to her hip.
“It’s my lower back, connected to the hip, which was kind of limiting me from the full rotation,” Sabalenka said after the Rome defeat.
“We’re going to spend some days on recovery.”
She added that her movement and overall level had dropped during the match.
Sabalenka heads to Paris without reaching a claycourt semi-final this season, having won only four of her six matches on the surface, and with rivals sensing vulnerability in the world number one.
