Aryna Sabalenka has four Grand Slam wins in her career, but none of those have been at the French Open. Not yet anyway. On Wednesday, she took on a difficult opponent, Diana Shnaider, in the quarterfinals, and Sabalenka had to get past more than just her opponent across the net.
While it didn't rain, which would have been less of an issue since Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros has a roof, the wind played havoc with both players. Even ball tosses on serves were not easy, especially on one end of the court. Those watching on television or streaming could hear the wind in the microphones of courtside analysts.
Sabalenka's answer to the conditions was the same one she uses even in better conditions, however: Power through the ball and overpower her opponent. Shnaider was able to stay in rallies at times with her excellent shot-making, but she had little recourse early against Sabalenka, moving her from side to side, often with powerful backhands the Russian couldn't touch.
Aryna Sabalenka stunned in a battle against the wind and Diana Shnaider at the 2026 French Open
The match wouldn't be nearly as easy as it should have been for the WTA No. 1, though. She jumped ahead 5-1 in the first set, but was broken, and then Shnaider held to get to 5-3. Sabalenka still appeared firmly in control and didn't give in to momentum easily, but Shnaider's confidence had to be growing. Her unwillingness to quit would be telling.
Sabalenka did take set one, though, with a serve and another break to take the opening set 6-3.
The second set appeared to follow the same path, with the top seed leading 4-1, but it was broken, and Shanider kept alive her slim hopes of mounting a comeback. The issue for the Russian was that not only was the Belarusian still hitting with bombast, but often used drop shots to take points, too. The power, combined with great touch, was a cruelty that only the best possess.
Yet, Shnaider kept hanging around, even having three break points with Sabalenka serving at 4-3. With the wind diminishing somewhat, the Belarusian held and needed to hold serve to take the 6-4 and move on to the semifinals. Surprisingly, though, she couldn't. Shnaider got the break to even the set. The Russian followed that with a hold of serve, and she suddenly had the lead in set two.
Even more shockingly, she once again broke Sabalenka to take the set. At this point, she had won six of seven games, and the only one Shnaider hadn't won, she had three break points on Sabalenka's serve.
What no one could have expected was that the second set run by Shnaider was simply the beginning. While the Russian ticked up in form, hitting exceptionally placed winners with ease and precision, Sabalenka was falling apart, hitting balls into the net with regularity when she wasn't hitting the ball long.
Quite quickly, Shnaider, who had only one top 5 win in her career and had never beaten a No. 1, led 5-0. The outcome seemed certain, but one no one would have expected, especially with the gap in the final set. Trying to stay in the match by holding serve, Sabalenka couldn't. She was broken yet again and lost the serve 0-6. Shnaider had won the final ten games of the match.
Diana Shnaider will next face Maja Chwalinska in the semis. Chwalinska has shocked many at Roland Garros by having to make it through qualifying to be able to make a deep run. What would be more stunning is if she defeated Sabalenka one step before the final.
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