Sabalenka had led No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider by a set and a double-break in their quarter-final on Wednesday before Shnaider won 10 consecutive games to overturn her second-set deficit and win the decider by a bagel.
The most recent upset at this year’s Roland-Garros led to a frank post-match press conference from Sabalenka as she suggested she could consider walking away from the sport.
“No thoughts, no emotions,” Sabalenka told reporters. “I just want to quit tennis right now. But hopefully, I’ll get back on track.
“I had very good opportunities in the second set. I screwed up and she played great. Mentally, I couldn’t really recover after the second set.
“I don’t know when was the last time it happened to me, losing 10 games in a row. Mentally, I got in a deep dark hole and I couldn’t get back mentally on track.”
But Williams is confident that Sabalenka will be back on court soon and that her comments come from a place of “disappointment.”
“She leaves it all on the court. You see everything she feels on the court,” Williams, who has won seven singles and 14 doubles Grand Slams, said.
”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.”
The defeat comes as Sabalenka celebrates her 85th week as the world No. 1 and still the formidable force in women’s tennis.
The Belarusian is a four-time Grand Slam winner and was a runner-up at the French Open last year.
And Williams praised the honest reaction Sabalenka gave following her defeat to Shnaider.
”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,” the former world No. 1 said.
“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 get 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.”
Sabalenka now turns her attention towards the grass-court season with Wimbledon beginning on Monday, June 29.