Diana Shnaider authored one of the most stunning upsets in recent Roland Garros memory, recovering from a set and a double break down to topple world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 and reach her first Grand Slam semifinal. In the day's other quarterfinal, qualifier Maja Chwalinska kept her fairytale alive, beating No. 22 seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(3), 6-3 to become the second qualifier in the Open Era to reach the Roland Garros women's semifinals. The two now meet on Thursday to fight for a place in Saturday's final, with a first-time Grand Slam champion guaranteed.
Shnaider stuns world No. 1 Sabalenka from a set and double break down
Diana Shnaider produced one of the most stunning turnarounds in recent Roland Garros memory, recovering from a set and a double break down to topple world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Sabalenka had been imperious early, powering to 6-3, 4-1 and looking every inch the top seed, but the cracks opened as the wind picked up on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Serving at 5-1 in the second set she missed two set points, one on a double fault, and from there her command of the match drained away. She fended off four break points to hold for 5-3, then, serving for the match at 5-4, 30-15, netted a simple volley that would have brought up double match point. Shnaider seized the lifeline and never let go, reeling off the last 10 games in a row - 12 of the final 13 - as the No. 1 seed unravelled to 57 unforced errors, 17 of them in the final set alone. A player who does not lose ten games in a row simply stopped being able to keep the ball in court, shanking forehands and burying backhands in the net while Shnaider, fearless behind her left-handed forehand, struck 25 winners with 10 in the decider. Her returning told the rest of the story: she won 22 of 49 return pressure points and broke the Sabalenka serve seven times, five of them in succession down the stretch. It was the first time Sabalenka had dropped a 6-0 set since 2024, and only the fourth time since the WTA rankings began in 1975 that a world No. 1 lost a deciding set to a bagel. The result snapped her run of six consecutive major semifinals and marked her earliest Grand Slam exit since a quarterfinal loss to Mirra Andreeva in Paris two years ago. A four-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka now watches a wide-open draw move on without her, while Shnaider faces qualifier Maja Chwalinska with a first Grand Slam final guaranteed to one of them.
Chwalinska sees off Kalinskaya to complete fairytale run to the semifinals
Maja Chwalinska's extraordinary fortnight rolled on, the qualifier beating No. 22 seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(3), 6-3 to become only the second qualifier in the Open Era to reach the Roland Garros women's semifinals, after Nadia Podoroska in 2020. The 24-year-old, ranked No. 114, led 5-1 in the opening set before Kalinskaya rallied to 5-5 and saved two set points, but Chwalinska held her nerve to take the tiebreak and then broke twice in the second to pull clear. In a windy afternoon that demanded patience, she leaned on the variety that has carried her all tournament, winning 16 of 31 serve pressure points and 15 of 22 return pressure points while converting break points at an 87.5% clip. The win was her third top-50 scalp of the fortnight, after Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari, having never beaten a top-50 player before Paris. It guarantees her a top-50 debut next week, a remarkable climb for a player who began the run in qualifying and has now won eight matches in Paris. Chwalinska becomes the second-lowest-ranked Roland Garros women's semifinalist on record, behind only last year's Lois Boisson, and the fourth Polish woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. She is now one win from becoming the first qualifier in the Open Era to reach the French Open final.