Throughout the match, the wind greatly affected not only the 2 players but also those present on the court. The wind speed reached 35 mph (about 56 km/h).
Despite the strong wind, Sabalenka still gained the upper hand when winning 6-3 in set 1, then leading 4-1 in set 2. The problem is that when fans on the court gave more cheers to Shnaider, the Belarusian player collapsed under pressure. Shnaider rose up strongly, winning 10 games in a row to eliminate Sabalenka from the quarterfinals and win the right to the semi-finals against Maja Chwalinska.
After the match, Sabalenka asked why the stadium roof was not closed.
That's another question - I don't understand why they keep the roof open when the wind is blowing extremely strongly," she said, "But how can I complain when almost the whole match everything was okay with me, and suddenly it slipped out of my reach?
I felt the situation became crazy, maybe just because mentally, I wasn't really okay. I remember even last year, they kept the roof open for us, and the next day, in similar conditions, they closed it for male tennis players - I believe it was to create better competition conditions and higher tennis quality.
I don't understand why they kept it open. Even when I was winning, it was still very bad tennis. I don't understand how the audience could sit there and watch. And then at one point, she seized the opportunity and played unbelievable tennis.
In response to Sabalenka's harsh complaints, Roland Garros issued a response.
According to the regulations of this Grand Slam tournament, "The roof will not be closed to prevent any weather threats unless there are strong winds exceeding 60 km/h, if the match is forced to stop many times or there is a forecast of prolonged rain".
However, the problem that arose in Sabalenka's match with Shnaider was the wind outside Philippe-Chatrier stadium.
In an official statement, Roland Garros said: "The mechanism to close or open the roof only works when the wind speed is below 60 km/h. In case the weather forecast has strong gusts or any strong winds accompanied by high rainfall, the referee may order to close the roof before the match starts as a precaution".
To add salt to Sabalenka's pain, the roof was closed in 3 out of 4 sets of the match immediately following between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli.
This is the second time the wind has become an "enemy" of the world No. 1 tennis player at Roland Garros, after she also lost in similar conditions to Coco Gauff in the 2025 final.
In the semi-finals, Shnaider lost to Chwalinska after 2 sets with a score of 6-7 (4-7), 4-6. Thus, the women's singles final of Roland Garros 2026 takes place between Chwalinska and Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Marta Kostyuk in the first semi-final. Chwalinska - playing from the qualifying round, Andreeva - 8th seed, will play in the final at 8:00 PM on June 6th.
