Paris Stunner: Shnaider Knocks Out the World No. 1
Diana Shnaider, the 25th seed, toppled world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career.
- Diana Shnaider, the 25th seed, knocked world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka out of the French Open quarterfinal.
- The score was 3-6, 7-5, 6-0, with Sabalenka up a set and 4-1 before collapsing.
- It is the first quarterfinal and first Grand Slam semifinal of Shnaider's career.
- The women's semifinal lineup is the most unexpected since 2021, with three first-timers.
The wind on Court Philippe-Chatrier carried the clay in clouds and, as the match wore on, it carried away the world No. 1’s composure as well. An hour earlier it all looked finished. In the end the crowd watched a scene few expect at a Grand Slam.
Diana Shnaider, the 25th seed, brought down Aryna Sabalenka by a score of 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of her career. Sabalenka won the opening set and led 4-1 in the second, and then came a collapse rarely seen: she lost 12 of the final 13 games while piling up 57 unforced errors.
How did the favorite lose a match she was leading?
Part of the answer hangs in the Paris air. Windy conditions on the open center court wrecked Sabalenka’s timing and depth, and once the ball starts dancing, big baseline hitting becomes a risk rather than a weapon. Sabalenka described the breakdown without dressing it up.
Mentally I fell into a very deep, dark hole and I just couldn’t get back into the match.
The numbers back up that confession. Fifty-seven unforced errors is a figure that kills any plan, and a run of 12 dropped games down the stretch meant the third set had no story at all. On the other side of the net, Shnaider did the simplest and hardest thing at once: she kept the ball in play and waited for her opponent to crack. Afterward she was stunned herself.
Honestly, I’m speechless. She’s the world No. 1, so I was just trying to give it my all.
What does a semifinal like this tell us?
This is not a single bad night, it is a reshuffling of the entire women’s draw in Paris. The women’s semifinals, scheduled for June 4, feature names most fans would not have placed anywhere near the final a week ago.
The semifinal lineup looks like this:
- Mira Andreeva against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
- Diana Shnaider against qualifier Maya Hvalyinska.
Three of the four semifinalists, Shnaider, Hvalyinska and Kostyuk, are in that stage of a Grand Slam for the first time in their careers. It is the most unexpected semifinal field since 2021. For Andreeva, who crushed Sorana Cirstea in 57 minutes a day earlier, this is already a second semifinal, which in this company makes her almost a veteran.
Upsets of this kind rarely travel alone. With the world No. 1 gone, the trophy is suddenly open to all four remaining players, and Shnaider walks into the semifinal unburdened, free of the favorite’s weight and with the win of her career in her pocket.
Do you believe Diana Shnaider can go all the way after a win like this, or did Sabalenka’s collapse simply open the door for another surprise semifinalist?
