PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) – Diana Shnaider said she took lessons from Aryna Sabalenka’s struggles in last year’s wind-hit French Open final to engineer her upset of the world number one on Wednesday, adapting smartly to the blustery conditions in their quarter-final.
The Russian rallied from a set and a double break down to shock four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka 3-6 7-5 6-0, 12 months after the Belarusian fell to Coco Gauff in the title clash in similar conditions.
“Of course I knew in the final last year … it was super windy,” Shnaider told reporters.
“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.”
Shnaider said part of her plan after surrendering the first set and going down a double break in the second set was to be a lot more aggressive against her big-hitting opponent.
“I was starting to step in more on her second serve, putting more pressure,” Shnaider added.
“She got a couple of unforced errors here and there. The momentum was shifting a little bit towards my side. I believed more in myself.
“After winning the second set, I was like, ‘Yay, she hasn’t lost a set here and I’m the first one (to take one off her).’ In the third set … I just tried to be more aggressive and go for my shots.”
Like Sabalenka, Shnaider said she was surprised that the Court Philippe Chatrier roof was not closed to help players be more in control of their shots.
“I was warming up with a closed roof. I didn’t know they were going to open it up. They were starting to open it right when I was finishing my warm-up,” Shnaider said.
“I was a little bit surprised with that decision. But again, the conditions were very tough, there were a lot of dirty shots, it was very unpredictable, a lot of wind and a lot of sand.
“I was a little annoyed more in the first set, but I tried to keep reminding myself that it’s same conditions for the both of us. I’ve got to admit it that it’s tough, and I needed to figure out what I have to do.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
