Aryna Sabalenka said she wanted to forget all about tennis following her fourth-round defeat to Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon on Sunday.

The world number one was beaten 6-2 7-6 (7-2), with Osaka looking a level above her opponent as she booked a quarter-final clash with Karolina Muchova.  

Sabalenka is still yet to reach a Wimbledon final, with her best runs at the All England Club ending at the semi-final stage in 2021, 2023 and 2025.

And, having been absent from the 2022 and 2024 editions, this is Sabalenka's worst result at SW19 since she was beaten in the first round back in 2019 (not held in 2020).

Sabalenka was booed by some fans on Centre Court after she reacted to losing match point by smashing a ball out of the stadium, but in her post-match press conference, she said she did well to avoid smashing her racket during a frustrating outing. 

"I f***** it up this year. Next year I'll try to do better," Sabalenka told reporters. 

"I cannot be satisfied with anything, but I have to say there were a couple of times when I could have just completely lost it.

"I was respectful to the grass and to the next players who were going to play there, so I held myself really well.

"I feel like my level was really low today, plus she was feeling her best.

"With every game we would play, I would feel worse, she would feel better. She would just go for her shots freely, and I wouldn't."

Sabalenka has endured a disappointing year, having finished as runner-up at January's Australian Open before going out of Roland-Garros at the quarter-final stage.

The second set tie-break she lost was the first she had given up at a slam since the 2023 French Open (versus Muchova), bringing an end to the longest streak of consecutive breakers won by any player – male or female – at the majors in the Open Era (21).

Asked if she felt she was still the world's best player, Sabalenka said: "Let's just look at the rankings. Right now, I'm world number one.

"Level-wise, today I wasn't world number one. Yesterday, I was world number one.

"I don't even want to think about rankings at this point. I just want to go, get completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape."