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World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has been sent packing in the third round of the Italian Open, marking her earliest exit at any tournament since February 2025. The top seed led Sorana Cirstea by a set and a break, but suddenly fell away and was broken six times in the match as she suffered a 2-6 6-3 7-5 defeat at the hands of the 26th seed.

Sabalenka sparked concerns when she called for the physio in the middle of the third set, and lay on the court to receive treatment for what appeared to be a back issue during a medical timeout. The four-time Major champion played on but was beaten by 36-year-old Cirstea, who is retiring at the end of this season.

With the French Open now just a couple of weeks away, it raises alarm bells for Sabalenka, who also lost to 30th seed Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals of last week's Madrid Open. For the first time since 2022, the Belarusian will go to Roland Garros having not reached the final of either Madrid or Rome beforehand.

More importantly, there will be questions surrounding Sabalenka's fitness after she received a medical timeout in the deciding set. The world No. 1 has been one of the most consistent players this year, winning titles in Brisbane, Indian Wells, and Miami, and finishing runner-up at the Australian Open.

But her clay season hasn't quite gone to plan. After missing the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she has now lost two of her last three matches. The top seed in Rome stormed past two-time Major champion Barbora Krejcikova in her opening match on Thursday, but started to struggle against Cirstea in set two.

Sabalenka kept herself in it, however, and broke as Cirstea served for the match at 5-4 in the decider. "I think that's the first shot this match that I've seen Cirstea get properly wrong," commentator Liam Broady said as the Romanian gave Sabalenka a break point. "She's been so accurate for two whole sets now."

But Cirstea broke the Belarusian again in the very next game, and Sabalenka vented her frustrations towards her team as they sat down for the changeover with the 26th seed back in the lead. Sabalenka continued muttering towards them as she headed back to the baseline, hoping she could again keep herself in it.

At the second time of asking, the Romanian didn't blink and, on match point, fired down a huge serve that Sabalenka couldn't get back into play, claiming the biggest victory of her career in what is the final year of her career.

Afterwards, she told the crowd: "Absolutely, I'm very, very happy. I mean, she's an amazing player, she doesn't need an introduction, she's No. 1 in the world, and I'm very happy with the win. I thought I played very well today. Again, I'm working really, really hard, so it's nice to have these results as payoff."

And asked whether she could reconsider her retirement after beating a world No. 1 for the very first time, Cirstea joked: "Maybe if I win the tournament, I promise I will think about it!"

The 36-year-old is through to the fourth round to face 13th seed Linda Noskova, while Sabalenka likely won't play again until the French Open, unless she takes a late wildcard into the smaller events in Strasbourg or Rabat.

Sabalenka had reached at least the quarter-finals of her last 17 tournaments. She had not lost this early at any event since last February, when she won a round at the Dubai Tennis Championships before Clara Tauson beat her.

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