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Sabalenka crumbles; Shnaider, Chwalinska surge into semis

tennis03 June 2026 14:35| © AFP
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Aryna Sabalenka © Gallo Images

Aryna Sabalenka's bid for a first French Open title was left in tatters as she fell apart in a bizarre defeat by Russian 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

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The world number one led by a set and a double-break before exiting the tournament in a blaze of unforced errors, collapsing to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss in blustery conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"I feel like when I saw her (Sabalenka) being emotional, I was, like, 'Yes, like, you are in the right direction, you've got to stay, just focus on yourself, don't focus too much on her, what she's talking to her team or whatever she's doing'," said Shnaider after beating a top-10 player for only the second time in her career.

Shnaider will face Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the semifinals on Thursday, with Marta Kostyuk or Mirra Andreeva awaiting the winner in Sunday's final.

"She's a very tricky player, so I'm not surprised that she's good. Sometimes, it just takes time," said the 22-year-old Shnaider of Chwalinska, who she beat at a lower-tier event in Istanbul four years ago.

Sabalenka was the only Grand Slam champion left in either the men's or women's singles draws at Roland Garros, but belied that status by making a whopping 57 unforced errors.

"You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything?," smiled Sabalenka when asked how she would get over the defeat.

"Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help, maybe not."

Shnaider was playing in her first major quarter-final, but now finds herself a strong favourite to reach the final heading into her last-four tie against world number 114 and fellow left-hander Chwalinska.

"Definitely a special tournament for me here," added the Russian.

"It's going be a lefty battle so I'm looking forward (to the semifinal)."

Sabalenka's scarcely believable defeat was reminiscent of the way she threw away a strong position in last year's final against Coco Gauff.

"I knew the final, last year, I watched it. I knew that it was also super windy," said Shnaider.

"So of course I had that thought in the back of my mind that she was struggling with Coco last year. I was, like, 'Yeah, I've got to use this opportunity, I need to just adjust and do my best'."

Belarusian Sabalenka was playing in a 14th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final but failed to become the first woman to make seven straight major semis since Serena Williams.

INCREASINGLY FRUSTRATED

The top seed raced into a 5-1 lead and eventually sealed the opener on her third set point after initially failing to serve it out.

The second set followed a similar pattern at first, as Sabalenka moved 4-1 in front with a double-break before throwing away her next service game.

Sabalenka became increasingly frustrated as she gifted Shnaider three break points to level at 4-4.

After some animated remonstrating with her box, she recomposed herself enough to hold.

But the 28-year-old's game continued to come apart, as a string of dreadful unforced errors allowed Shnaider to break again and tie up the set at 5-5, with Sabalenka left to gesticulate wildly towards her coaching staff.

Shnaider could not believe her luck as Sabalenka dumped successive forehands into the bottom of the net to finish off the set and send the match into a decider.

The Russian grew in confidence and moved 2-0 up in the third as Sabalenka sprayed eight unforced errors around Chatrier in the space of two games.

Shnaider cruised to victory from there, fittingly securing a semi-final berth when Sabalenka knocked a routine backhand into the net on the third match point.

A stunned world number one was left to trudge off court after winning just 14 points in the deciding set.

POLISH QUALIFIER REACHES SEMIS

World number 114 Maja Chwalinska continued her stunning French Open run on Wednesday by becoming just the second women's qualifier to reach the last four at Roland Garros in the professional era.

However, the 24-year-old told reporters that her accomplishments were yet to fully sink in.

"I feel like I just, for some reason, I don't process it, you know," Chwalinska said.

"I'm just focusing on every single match. I honestly don't feel like it's, like, a huge, huge moment for me.

"But definitely after the tournament finishes, I will kind of have time to, I guess, be grateful for what happened and process it as well."

Chwalinska again defied the odds to down Russian 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 at the quarter-final stage.

It was her eighth win at the tournament after she battled through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw of a major for just the third time in her career.

Prior to her run in Paris, Chwalinska had only ever won two tour-level matches on clay in her career, now she stands one victory away from competing for the biggest title the surface has to offer.

Standing in her way in Thursday's semi-final will be 25th seed Diana Shnaider.

Regardless of the outcome of that match, Chwalinska has ensured her spot in the annals of Roland Garros by equalling, at least, the result of Nadia Podoroska, who in 2020 became the first woman in the Open era to come through qualifying and reach the semi-finals at the clay-court Grand Slam.

"I honestly don't know what's going on. I know I repeat myself but every single match here is kind of crazy for me so I'm very grateful," Chwalinska said on court.

The diminutive Pole raced into early leads in both sets, before Kalinskaya fought back on both occasions.

However, Chwalinska held her nerve to get over the line to keep her stunning run alive.

'A DIFFERENT STORY'

Chwalinska said her adaptability was the thing she was most proud of from her time in the French capital.

"It's a long tournament. I'm here almost three weeks now," she said. "Every day is different. Every match is different. Conditions are different.

"So I had to adapt a lot. I'm very happy that I was able to do that. I think it's something that I can be proud of, you know, in my effort to do that.

"Obviously I'm a bit tired, but that's normal... it's a Grand Slam. So I feel like the adrenaline is very high. Like, I can feel terrible, but then I just step on the court and, you know, it's a different story."

Between 2019 and 2021, Chwalinska battled with depression and took a break from tennis.

"The break wasn't very tough," she said. "The tough moments were before the break, I would say. I was struggling a lot."

The Dabrowa Gornicza native revealed that first she thought she "just needed to stay very strong, tough, and just keep practising".

But that eventually, she felt "lifeless" and "couldn't get out of bed anymore".

Since returning to competition she has mostly played in lower-level tournaments.

At the start of the 2026 season she shared that her "main goal" was to break into the top 100.

She can now rest her laurels in that regard as with her last-four run at Roland Garros she will achieve that, and then some, come the next WTA rankings update.

"Coming here, my goal was to qualify. I felt like I'm doing a good job, you know, like that I do the right things and I just need to be patient for it to click," Chwalinska said.

"But obviously, I didn't expect it to happen that way. But, I mean, I'm not complaining..."

 

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