Diana Shnaider rallied from a set and two breaks down to stun World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of the French Open on Wednesday in Paris.
Shnaider, the 25th seed from Russia, pulled out a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka in 2 hours and 12 minutes. The victory snapped the top-seeded Belarusian’s string of six consecutive major semifinals and left her stunned after the match.
“No thoughts, no emotions. I just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said in her post-match interview. “But we’ll see in a few days. Hopefully I can get back on track, mentally.”
The 22-year-old Shnaider dropped the first set and fell behind 4-1 in the second, losing serve twice before winning 12 of the next 13 games at blustery Roland Garros.
“Tough conditions with the wind, first time playing Aryna, super nervous,” Shnaider said in her on-court interview. “Quarterfinals for the first time, definitely a lot of nerves. I feel like first there was trying to adjust to her game and then to the conditions, to the wind. Trying to figure out how to play.
“I was just trying to focus point by point, not thinking about the score. I was like, it’s OK. It’s tough conditions, she’s the World No. 1. I will just try to do my best to the end and we’ll see how it goes. Try to fight for every point and try to run for every ball and make it extra into the court.”
Sabalenka was serving for the match at 5-4 before it all went south, losing her composure in the process. She had 57 unforced errors in the match — 30 more than Shnaider.
“Mentally I couldn’t recover from the second set,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t know when was the last time that I lost 10 games in a row. Mentally I entered a very deep hole.”
Shnaider advanced to face Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska, who continued her sterling run through the clay-court tournament with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over 22nd-seeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.
Chwalinska, 24, became just the second qualifier in the Open Era to reach the semifinals in Paris after Nadia Podoroska achieved the feat in 2020.
Chwalinska let a 5-1 lead slip away before winning the first set in a spirited tiebreaker. She still encountered a struggle before putting away Kalinskaya.
“I feel like what I did well was just stay calm when … she started to play much more aggressive,” Chwalinska said. “… I’m just very proud that I stayed composed and managed to win this set. Then the second set was just a battle. So I’m very happy, happy to win.”
Ranked No. 114 in the world, Chwalinska is the second-lowest-ranked women’s singles semifinalist at the French Open. Lois Boisson of France was ranked No. 361 when she advanced to the semis last year.
“My goal was to be top 100 this year. That was the main goal,” Chwalinska said. “Coming here, my goal was to qualify. I felt like I’m doing a good job, like that I do the right things and I just need to be patient for it to click. Yeah, but obviously I didn’t expect it to happen that way. But I’m not complaining.”
Eighth-seeded Russian Mirra Andreeva and No. 15 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine will meet in the other semifinal.
–Field Level Media
