Aryna Sabalenka shut down a heckler during her quarterfinal match against Qinwen Zheng at the 2025 Italian Open on Wednesday, May 14.

Trailing 4–6, 0–1, 0–30, the World No. 1 was under considerable pressure. During a pause before Zheng’s serve in the second set, a fan shouted from the crowd, “Come on Aryna, play tennis,” seemingly mocking the three-time Grand Slam champion for her performance.

Sabalenka, visibly frustrated, responded sharply, telling the fan to “shut the f*** up.”

Here’s the video of Aryna Sabalenka slamming the fan

Sabalenka slump to shock defeat

Sabalenka went into the match as firm favourite, having a 6-0 lead over her Chinese opponent. Last year, she also defeated Zheng in the final of the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena. But on Wednesday, Zheng opened her account, winning 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court.

The 22-year-old Zheng also ended Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak in WTA 1000 events. Sabalenka, who had won the Miami Open followed by the Madrid Open earlier this year, looked completely out of sorts and surrendered without much of a fight.

Zheng took an hour and 37 minutes to get the better of Sabalenka. In the first set, the Paris Olympic gold medallist earned a break to come up trumps. Sabalenka would have been gutted for not being able to convert any of her three break point chances.

Zheng dominated even in the second set, breaking Sabalenka’s serve twice. Yet again, Sabalenka couldn’t make use of the two break point opportunities she got.

Zheng also outplayed Sabalenka in first serves, winning 82.4 per cent of points from them. Sabalenka only won 59.1 per cent of her first serve points.

In the semi-final, Zheng will be up against USA’s Coco Gauff, who is fresh from beating teen sensation Mirra Andreeva in straight sets.