Aryna Sabalenka admitted she has “lessons to learn” as she shared a message on social media after her surprise exit at the 2026 Canadian Open.

The world No 1 was upset 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 by 19th-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event in Toronto.

Sabalenka was playing her first tournament since her last 16 defeat to Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon last month.

The four-time Grand Slam champion lost before the final at each of her last six tournaments, and she reached just one semi-final during this run, which was at the Berlin Open.

Prior to her quarter-final loss to Hailey Baptiste at the Madrid Open in April — which ended a 15-match winning streak — Sabalenka had won 26 of her first 27 matches in 2026 during a sensational start to the campaign.

The Belarusian star won the Brisbane International and reached the Australian Open final before securing the Indian Wells and Miami Open titles to complete the Sunshine Double.

WTA Tour News

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

Following her loss to Alexandrova in Canada, Sabalenka took to Instagram to post a 14-word message.

“Leaving Toronto with a lot of love and lessons to learn. Onto the next,” wrote the 28-year-old.

What did Ekaterina Alexandrova say after beating Aryna Sabalenka?

Following her victory against Sabalenka, Alexandrova was asked about the challenge of facing the world No 1.

“I think, I mean, she has every aspect of the game, I think, in a very high level,” said the 31-year-old Russian.

“She has an amazing serve, return. She can make amazing shots from both sides, the forehand and the backhand. She can play the dropshot and the volley. So basically she can do anything.

“You need to be prepared for that, that, like, that there’s not going to be, like, some easy points or easy shots. So every point you play, you need to be super focused and super prepared for anything.

“Because even when you make a good shot and you expect something easier for you just to finish the point, maybe it’s not the case with her because she can play it like, you know, like even better shot from your good shot. I think that’s the difficulty to playing against her.

“Also, she also is good with the switching, like, timing and the rhythm. Because like today I didn’t feel any particular rhythm. Sometimes it was super fast, sometimes it was slower, sometimes it was with the spin. It’s really hard to readjust for this type of game.”

READ NEXT: Alex Eala: Coco Gauff reveals what she ‘really respects’ about the Filipina star