French Open: Aryna Sabalenka knocked out of Roland Garros quarter-finals by Diana Shnaider in huge shock from commanding position

World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is out of the French Open after suffering a shock defeat to Diana Shnaider from a position of a set and two breaks up.

With defending champion Coco Gauff, four-time champion Iga Swiatek and 2026 Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina all already knocked out, Sabalenka was huge favourite for a maiden Roland Garros title, only to suffer an improbable exit herself.

Indeed, the 28-year-old was 6-3 4-1 ahead on Court Philippe-Chatrier - with a service game to follow - and then 6-4 5-4 ahead where she was serving for the match, but a determined Shnaider managed to break Sabalenka three times to clinch the second set, before powering on to win the third 6-0 in an almighty upset.

Facing Shnaider in the last eight on Wednesday, Sabalenka displayed her power from the baseline to race out to a 5-1 lead in the first set.

Shnaider caused a shock by breaking the top seed as she served for the set, though, and at 5-3 the 22-year-old forced another break point too as Sabalenka got another chance to close it out on serve.

In the end, the latter held her nerve to bank the opener.

Into the second set, Sabalenka broke Shnaider early to get her nose in front, and appeared to show no signs of surrendering the advantage on this occasion, breaking her a second time to move 4-1 ahead.

Yet, Shnaider again displayed her determination and talent to earn a break back on the Sabalenka serve, hold her own serve and then force three break point chances to improbably level the contest.

Sabalenka saved all three before conceding a fourth break point, only to save that as well before closing out a big hold to lead 5-3.

Serving for the match at 5-4, errors crept back into Sabalenka's game as Shnaider again forced break point. This time, the latter took it to fight back to 5-5.

Shnaider held serve and then forced yet more Sabalenka errors to claim an incredible 7-5 set victory from 4-1 and 5-3 behind.

Into the third set, Sabalenka came under huge pressure and had to save three early break points as Shnaider continued in the ascendency. In the end, the latter's energy proved too much as she claimed the break at the fourth attempt to edge 2-0 in front.

Shnaider raced through another service game for 3-0, and then broke an overwhelmingly frustrated Sabalenka again for an unassailable 4-0 advantage. While challenged back on serve, Shnaider dug in to hold and move into a fanciful 5-0 lead.

The victory was complete when Sabalenka suffered another break of serve, with Shnaider closing out a stunning bagel success to move into a Grand Slam final four.

Shnaider will next face Maja Chwalinska in the semi-finals, with the Polish player having come through qualifying to make this stage in a stunning run and ranked 114 in the world.

Polish qualifier Chwalinska continued her dream run at ‌the French Open, reaching the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over Russia's Anna ‌Kalinskaya on a windswept Court Philippe Chatrier.

The 24-year-old absorbed the power of ​the 22nd seed superbly, repeatedly forcing Kalinskaya into errors by extending rallies and making her hit one extra ​shot as she became only the second ‌qualifier in the Open era to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals - and the sixth ​to achieve the feat at a Grand Slam.

After an early exchange of breaks, ⁠Chwalinska broke her opponent's serve ⁠again and saved two break points to move 4-1 ahead before nerves crept in, allowing Kalinskaya ‌to force a tiebreak.

But Chwalinska, who had won only two Tour-level matches on clay before this tournament, rediscovered her composure at the ‌perfect moment. After a tense nine-shot rally on set point, Kalinskaya sent a backhand long to hand the Pole the opening set.

Chwalinska maintained her momentum in the second set and, aided by a stream ⁠of unforced errors from Kalinskaya, raced into a ​4-1 lead.

Kalinskaya snatched a break back for 5-3 ​but Chwalinska sealed victory in the next game on another ​unforced error by the Russian.

"Every single match here is kind ⁠of crazy for me, I'm very grateful," said Chwalinska, who has only dropped one set on her way to the last four.

"Inside ⁠I'm nervous and stressed. I try to ​focus on my game and I'm happy I managed that. ​Honestly I just try to win every match, I'm not focusing on confidence, I'm not comparing ‌myself (with the top players)."

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