Aryna Sabalenka undone by the wind at French Open again as Diana Shnaider seizes her moment
PARIS — It’s happened again. For the second straight year, the world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was unable to handle the Paris wind and suffered more French Open heartbreak.
In the 2025 final, it was Coco Gauff who took advantage. On Wednesday, it was Russian No. 25 seed Diana Shnaider who kept her composure as Sabalenka imploded again at Roland Garros, sliding from one game from victory to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 defeat, losing 10 straight games and 12 of the last 13.
Wind is becoming as big an issue for Sabalenka as extreme heat is for the men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, and given the early elimination of Sabalenka’s three main rivals had left her as the overwhelming favorite, this was a particularly crushing defeat. It was her earliest Grand Slam exit since a stomach bug contributed to a last-eight defeat here to Mirra Andreeva two years ago. Her wait for a first non-hard court Grand Slam title goes on.
Searching for a maiden French Open title, Sabalenka led by a set and a double break, but leaves with another layer of scar tissue. This will have to rank as one of her biggest disappointments.
Shnaider will play Poland’s Maja Chwalińska in the semifinals, a golden opportunity for either to take a step into history. The 22-year-old Russian played brilliantly to take advantage of her opponent’s lapses, dominating with her forehand and drawing errors from Sabalenka by continually forcing her to hit one more shot.
It was all eerily reminiscent of last year’s final, when Sabalenka bemoaned the windy conditions after losing to Gauff, having been reeled in from a set up.
“Oh yeah,” Sabalenka said in a news conference when asked if this defeat felt similar to that one. “I just have to sit back and, I don’t know, openly think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments.”
In her news conference, Shnaider said she “knew (about) the final last year.” “I watched it,” she said. “I knew that it was also super windy. So of course I had that thought in the back of my mind that she was struggling with Coco last year.
“I saw some moments of her for frustration. I mean, I know Aryna, that she’s very emotional person. Kind of, I am, too.
“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 what she’s doing.’ I was just trying to just only think about myself, what I have to do, and just go point by point.”
Sabalenka praised Shnaider for how well she handled the conditions, but said she did not “know why would they keep the roof open when it’s crazy windy.” She said she did not ask for the roof to be closed during the match.
In the match that followed on Court Philippe-Chatrier between Félix Auger-Aliassime and Flavio Cobolli, the roof was closed after the first set, with the wind even stronger.
A tournament policy guide did not spell one out for mid-match closures due to wind, and a French Tennis Federation representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The guide did state that: “the mechanism to open/close the roofs only works in wind speeds less than 60km/h. In the event that the weather forecast predicts strong gusts of wind or any other type of violent wind along with a strong chance of rain, the referee may order the roof to be closed before the start of a match as a precautionary measure.”
“Even though I was winning, it was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play,” Sabalenka said.
“I mean, then at some point she stepped in, and she played unbelievable in those conditions, but I don’t know. It’s a big question.”
Against Shnaider, the warning signs were there in the first set, when Sabalenka gave up a 5-1 lead that would have become 5-4 had Shnaider not missed a very makeable forehand when up break point. Sabalenka closed out the set and looked to be on her way when leading 4-1 and up 30-0. From that point, it all started to unravel.
Shnaider broke back and then did so twice more to pinch the second set, with Sabalenka missing a volley that would have seen her up two match points serving at 5-4. The mess she made of the volley was symptomatic of how ragged Sabalenka suddenly looked. Shnaider, meanwhile, was dominating from the back of the court, especially with her forehand down the line.
“I feel like I saw that she started to struggle a little bit with her forehand today,” Shnaider said. “So if I saw an opportunity where I could go down the line, I love the shot, so I tried to go down the line.” Her success with the shot summarized Shnaider’s outstanding clarity of thought and execution in what was her first Grand Slam quarterfinal and comfortably the biggest match of her career.
That match was fast slipping away from Sabalenka, and what looked like a second-set blip became serious at the start of the third. Sabalenka missed a simple forehand that would have seen her hold for 1-1, allowing Shnaider to break and go 2-0 up. Everything was flowing Shnaider’s way, and as well as the wind and an inspired opponent, Sabalenka had the crowd to deal with.
They showed their disapproval when she chucked her racket to the floor. At one point, Sabalenka gave up on a Shnaider forehand as she struggled to find her characteristic fighting spirit.
“This is something that I actually have to step back and try to find a solution, because I just am so tired of losing some matches, not in the best way, just because I was overemotional.”
The closing stages were painful to watch as Sabalenka struggled to find the court. Shnaider meanwhile could barely miss, inflicting Sabalenka’s first bagel-set loss since the Dubai Tennis Championships in February 2024.
At the start of her news conference, Sabalenka joked that, “(I) just want to quit tennis right now, but we’ll see. We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”
Her focus will turn to winning a first Wimbledon title, with her grasscourt season getting under way at the Berlin Open the week after next. For Shnaider, the win means she has a huge chance to win an unexpected first Grand Slam title.
