Aryna Sabalenka has caused Grand Slam history to occur after her shock defeat at Roland Garros.
Sabalenka was beaten by Diana Shnaider, despite leading her Roland Garros quarter-final by a set and 4-1, before losing 12 of the next 13 games.
This was another crushing Grand Slam defeat for the world number one, and after the match Sabalenka admitted she wanted to quit tennis.
Sabalenka’s shock defeat is one of many surprises at this year’s Roland Garros, which saw Jannik Sinner lose in the second round, and now something has happened at a Grand Slam for the first time in 49 years.
There are no Grand Slam champions left in either singles draw at Roland Garros
The semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s singles draws are now set, but there is not a single former Grand Slam champion in either of them.
This is the first time at any Grand Slam tournament that there have been no former major champions in either draw at the semi-final stage since Roland Garros in 1977.
From the eight remaining players in the respective semi-finals, Alexander Zverev and Mirra Andreeva are actually the only two players who had reached the last-four at a major tournament before.
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It has been a huge breakthrough tournament in particular for qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who is making just her third Grand Slam main draw appearance at Roland Garros this year.
Chwalinska had never played a main draw match at Roland Garros before qualifying this year, but she has gone on to beat the likes of Qinwen Zheng, Maria Sakkari and Anna Kalinskaya to be within two wins of becoming a Grand Slam champion.
| Roland Garros singles semi-finalists | Previous best Grand Slam result |
| Mirra Andreeva (No.8) | Semifinal (Roland Garros 2024) |
| Marta Kostyuk (No.15) | Quarterfinal (Australian Open 2024) |
| Diana Shnaider (No.23) | Fourth Round (US Open 2024) |
| Maja Chwalinska (No.114) | Second Round (Wimbledon 2022) |
| Alexander Zverev (No.3) | Final (US Open 2020, Roland Garros 2024 & Australian Open 2025) |
| Jakub Mensik (No.27) | Fourth Round (Australian Open 2026) |
| Flavio Cobolli (No.14) | Quarterfinal (Wimbledon 2025) |
| Matteo Arnaldi (No.104) | Fourth Round (US Open 2023 & Roland Garros 2024) |
Who won the singles titles at Roland Garros in 1977?
There will be a new Grand Slam champion crowned in both the men’s and women’s singles tournaments this year, something that has not happened since Roland Garros in 1977.
This was during the time that Roland Garros was heavily impacted by the World TeamTennis league that was founded in 1974 and schedule conflicts meant that many top players did not compete at the Paris major in 1977.
Taking advantage of this opportunity in the men’s singles draw was Guillermo Vilas, who at the time had not won a Grand Slam title.
Vilas would beat Brian Gottfried in the 1977 Roland Garros final to win the first of what would become four Grand Slam titles in the Argentinian’s career.
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The women’s singles draw at Roland Garros in 1977 was arguably even more impacted without the likes of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, but it was top seed Mima Jausovec who prevailed after beating Florenta Mihai in the final.
It remains to be seen who will take advantage of the opening that has appeared in this year’s Roland Garros, but what is confirmed is that there will be two new Grand Slam champions like in 1977.
