Coco Gauff shocked in Canadian Open: Early exit after stunning defeat to Diana Shnaider

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.

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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.

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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.

José Morgado

@josemorgado

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Diana Shnaider, very good at tennis, easily beats top seed Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-1 to reach the QFs in Toronto.

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