French Open: Sabalenka collapses from winning position; Shnaider marches into semis, says ‘tough conditions with wind'

World number one Aryna Sabalenka's hopes of capturing her maiden French Open crown came to a surprising end on Wednesday after she suffered a dramatic quarter-final defeat to Russian 25th seed Diana Shnaider.

Sabalenka appeared to be in complete control after taking the opening set and establishing a double-break advantage, but her game unraveled amid a flurry of unforced errors. She eventually succumbed 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in challenging windy conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

With the victory, Shnaider advanced to the semi-finals, where she will meet Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska on Thursday. The winner of that contest will face either Marta Kostyuk or Mirra Andreeva in Sunday's championship match.

What did Shnaider say?

"Well honestly I'm speechless, I'm super happy. Obviously tough conditions with the wind," said the 22-year-old Shnaider after beating a top-10 player for only the second time in her career.

"First time playing Aryna so definitely a lot of nerves and I feel the first set was trying to adjust to her game."

Sabalenka was the only Grand Slam champion left in either the men's or women's singles draws at Roland Garros, but belied that status by making a whopping 57 unforced errors.

Shnaider was playing in her first major quarter-final, but now finds herself a strong favourite to reach the final heading into her last-four tie against world number 114 and fellow left-hander Chwalinska.

"Definitely super happy I managed to finish on a good note rather than start on a good note. Definitely a special tournament for me here," added the Russian.

"It's going be a lefty battle so I'm looking forward (to the semi-final)."

Sabalenka's scarcely believable defeat was reminiscent of the way she threw away a strong position in last year's final against Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka vs Shnaider

The Belarusian was playing in a 14th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final but failed to become the first woman to make seven straight major semis since Serena Williams.

The top seed raced into a 5-1 lead and eventually sealed the opener on her third set point after initially failing to serve it out.

The second set followed a similar pattern at first, as Sabalenka moved 4-1 in front with a double-break before throwing away her next service game.

Sabalenka became increasingly frustrated as she gifted Shnaider three break points to level at 4-4.

After an animated exchange with her coaching team, Sabalenka managed to regain enough composure to hold serve.

However, the 28-year-old continued to struggle, with a succession of costly unforced errors allowing Shnaider to secure another break and level the set at 5-5. A visibly frustrated Sabalenka repeatedly gestured toward her box as momentum slipped away.

Shnaider capitalised on the opportunity, watching as Sabalenka sent back-to-back forehands into the net to hand over the set and force a deciding third set.

The Russian carried that momentum into the final set, racing to a 2-0 lead while Sabalenka committed eight unforced errors across the opening two games.

From there, Shnaider remained firmly in control and comfortably closed out the match. She sealed her place in the semi-finals when Sabalenka netted a routine backhand on the third match point.

The stunned world number one left the court in disbelief after managing to win only 14 points in the deciding set.