By Rohith Nair
May 21 (Reuters) - Aryna Sabalenka arrives at the French Open as the world number one but with cracks beginning to appear in her armour and an injury cloud looming over her pursuit of a long-awaited maiden Grand Slam title on clay.
The Belarusian is a formidable force on the women's tour and little has changed with the power on display, however the 28-year-old comes to Roland Garros with doubts over her form and ability on the slower, punishing surface.
Four Grand Slam trophies sit on
her mantle - two Australian Open crowns and two U.S. Open titles - underlining her dominance on hardcourts but clay remains unconquered territory.
Last year Sabalenka stood one set from the French Open title before Coco Gauff transformed the match between the world's top two into one of endurance and resistance, with the Belarusian stumbling in a contest with 100 unforced errors in total.
She had looked untouchable in 2026, winning 26 of her first 27 matches, the only blot on an otherwise stellar campaign coming in an Australian Open final defeat by Elena Rybakina.
But there was an air of inevitability as she won the 'Sunshine Double' -- triumphing over Rybakina and Gauff at the finals in Indian Wells and Miami -- until she switched to clay.
SABALENKA'S CLAYCOURT WOES
Sabalenka's claycourt woes began with a shocking quarter-final exit to Hailey Baptiste at the Madrid Open, where the American unsettled the top seed and saved six match points to complete a stunning upset.
In Rome, it was a third round loss to Sorana Cirstea -- 36 years old and nearing retirement -- who found one last blaze in her career and left the world number one searching for answers.
More troubling still was the sight of Sabalenka calling for the physio as she struggled with her movement.
"It's my lower back, connected to the hip, which (was) kind of limiting me from the full rotation. We're just going to have some days off. We're going to spend it on recovery, that's the plan for now," Sabalenka had said after her Rome exit.
"I didn't play well from the beginning till the end. I started really well, but then I kind of dropped the level. Felt like my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level."
Sabalenka will turn up in Paris without a claycourt semi-final this season, just four wins from six matches on the surface and with the strange sensation that the rest of the field can see that vulnerability too.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
