Diana
Shnaider (No. 23) surprised
Coco Gauff (No. 2) in the second round of the
Canadian Open, winning 6-4, 6-1, and advancing to the quarterfinals of a WTA
1000 for the first time.
This marks Shnaider's first top-10 triumph as she
enjoys a great moment in her career. Gauff, who entered as the top seed, missed
a good opportunity to earn points in a draw with several withdrawals,
especially considering she will be defending titles in Cincinnati and the US
Open in the coming weeks.
Shnaider ousts top seed Coco Gauff
The last
two months have been the most successful of Shnaider's young career, with 17
wins out of her last 19 matches. She won titles at the Bad Homburg Open and
Budapest Open, and also secured a silver medal in women's doubles at the Paris
2024 Olympics alongside teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Gauff
started the match as the favorite and with strong crowd support in a duel that
was closely contested at the beginning. Both players struggled with their first
serve; Gauff managed only 56% and Shnaider 44%, though they were both effective
enough to maintain parity for much of the set.
Despite
Gauff having a slightly better serving performance, Shnaider was more resilient
on the return. In a set with no clear dominator, Gauff found herself in trouble
while serving at 4-5. Shnaider had 3 break points at a critical moment and
secured the tight set 6-4.
Diana Shnaider won three WTA titles in 2024: Hua-hin, Bad Homburg and Budapest Open.
The
Russian took the lead and maintained her focus in the second set. She saved a
break point in the third game, and from there, Gauff's concentration noticeably
dropped. Gauff committed several unforced errors and couldn't maintain her
strong service games from the first set, along with making multiple double
faults.
Shnaider
secured consecutive breaks in the 4th and 6th games, taking a clear lead over
her opponent. Shnaider won 12 of the last 15 points played and closed out the
victory 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 11 minutes. The 20-year-old continues her
excellent form and is one of the breakout players of the season, being the only
player to win titles on all three surfaces and rising to the verge of entering
the top 20.
Shnaider
is guaranteed to reach the best ranking of her career as world No. 22. In the
quarterfinals, she will face 6th seed Ludmila Samsonova (No. 13), who
comfortably defeated Elise Mertens (No. 35) in straight sets.