Camille Naredo

Diana Shnaider celebrates after winning against Aryna Sabalenka at the end of their women's quarter final singles match on day 11 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 3, 2026. Thomas Samson, AFP

Diana Shnaider celebrates after winning against Aryna Sabalenka at the end of their women's quarter final singles match on day 11 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 3, 2026. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

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French Open

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1780505230647AFP__20260603__B4VM84Y__v1__HighRes__TennisFraOpen2026.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Diana Shnaider celebrates after winning against Aryna Sabalenka at the end of their women&#x27;s quarter final singles match on day 11 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 3, 2026. Thomas Samson, AFP"/>Diana Shnaider celebrates after winning against Aryna Sabalenka at the end of their women&#x27;s quarter final singles match on day 11 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on June 3, 2026. Thomas Samson, AFP</div>PARIS, France -- Aryna Sabalenka&#x27;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 quarter-finals on Wednesday.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.&quot;I feel like when I saw her (Sabalenka) being emotional, I was, like, &#x27;Yes, like, you are in the right direction, you&#x27;ve got to stay, just focus on yourself, don&#x27;t focus too much on her, what she&#x27;s talking to her team or whatever she&#x27;s doing&#x27;,&quot; 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 semi-finals on Thursday, with Marta Kostyuk or Mirra Andreeva awaiting the winner in Sunday&#x27;s final.&quot;She&#x27;s a very tricky player, so I&#x27;m not surprised that she&#x27;s good. Sometimes, it just takes time,&quot; 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&#x27;s or women&#x27;s singles draws at Roland Garros, but belied that status by making a whopping 57 unforced errors.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/6/2/tennis-sabalenka-bests-osaka-at-french-open-berrettini-into-quarters-1229">READ: Sabalenka bests Osaka at French Open, Berrettini into quarters</a></div>&quot;You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything?&quot; smiled Sabalenka when asked how she would get over the defeat.&quot;Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help, maybe not.&quot;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.&quot;Definitely a special tournament for me here,&quot; added the Russian.&quot;It&#x27;s going be a lefty battle so I&#x27;m looking forward (to the semi-final).&quot;Sabalenka&#x27;s scarcely believable defeat was reminiscent of the way she threw away a strong position in last year&#x27;s final against Coco Gauff.&quot;I knew the final, last year, I watched it. I knew that it was also super windy,&quot; said Shnaider.&quot;So of course I had that thought in the back of my mind that she was struggling with Coco last year. I was, like, &#x27;Yeah, I&#x27;ve got to use this opportunity, I need to just adjust and do my best&#x27;.&quot;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.<div> </div><div>- Increasingly frustrated Sabalenka -</div>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&#x27;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.

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 quarter-finals on Wednesday.

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 quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Tennis: Sabalenka crumbles to French Open quarter-final defeat by Shnaider

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Tennis: Sabalenka crumbles to French Open quarter-final defeat by Shnaider

Jed Court,

Agence France-Presse

Published June 04, 2026 01:02 AM PHT

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