Diana Shnaider heaped praise on Maja Chwalinska and gave tips for Mirra Andreeva ahead of the Roland Garros final.
Despite defeating world number Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round, Shnaider couldn’t replicate her performance levels as she lost in two tight sets to the Polish qualifier who’s incredible journey continues.
The 25th seed reached her first Grand Slam singles semi-final and has lots to be proud of as she state in her post-match press conference, “Yeah, definitely great two weeks. Very proud of myself, what I achieved here,” Shnaider stated.
“Obviously a lot of new things, new goals. Overall, yeah, the match was very tough. All the kudos to Maja. She played an amazing — I feel like both of us played some really good tennis. Very hard battle. I tried my best, and I tried different things.
“Yeah, I left it all out there. Proud of the way I played, the way I fought. I mean, she played unreal, and she definitely deserved this win today and to be in the final.”
Shnaider mentioned about Chwalinska’s ‘unreal’ play and how hard she was to play especially with the Pole’s creative shot selection.
After her defeat to the qualifier Shnaider detailed what makes Chwalinska a tough player to play against and revealed she didn’t underestimate the world number 114, “Well, first of all, she moves incredible on the court. She covers a lot. She reads the game very well. Even if you think that you won the point, she’s there,” Shnaider analyzed.
“She’s returning that ball, but not just, like, returning where you can attack, but she’s returning it very uncomfortable for you, so you need to start, like, the whole point literally from the beginning, building it up again. A lot of variety, a lot of spin. You know, with a lefty forehand, there is spin. And with the backhand, there is a lot of slices. There is a low ball coming, and then obviously the dropshots worked very well. She’s coming into the net, covers it very well.
“So, yeah, I feel like her game style very suits the clay courts. Yeah, she played very well. Covers it, and then, like, she can kind of, even if you, like, attacking her, she can switch the point, and then all of a sudden, she’s not defending but in attack.
“Yeah, for sure I feel like sometimes people underestimate just with the ranking and, like, with a lot of outside, you know… I saw first round beating Qinwen and all of the good matches, beating Mertens and Sakkari. So it’s, like, yeah, this girl is definitely feeling well here.
“Again, I feel like one tournament can definitely, you know, change your life, change your career completely. So I feel like she just feeling super well here, uber confident. She’s playing some great tennis, and I feel like she’s now on fire and in such a momentum. Yeah, definitely a very tough opponent to have, and it doesn’t matter about her ranking.”
Now it’s the turn of Shnaider’s double partner to take on Chwalinska as Mirra Andreeva takes on the Pole for the Roland Garros title.
It will be an intriguing final which Andreeva will enter as favourite but anything can happen in a final especially in this tournament.
Shnaider said she would be happy to give Andreeva advice if needed and stated what advice she would give her compatriot ahead of Saturday’s showdown, “I would love to. I mean, if she would ask me, because I don’t want to interfere,” Shnaider said.
“Maybe they already saw. Maybe they watched the match. Maybe they already have a plan with Conchita. For sure, if she’s gonna ask me, I’m going to give you my review, my honest review after the match and hope that’s gonna help, Well, honestly, I feel like she would need to come into the net, and I feel like Mirra done it so much better recently.
“I saw her matches. She’s feeling confidence coming into the net. Obviously her serve is huge, so I feel like for her, it’s gonna be an important point just to keep her serve and, yeah, just be brave in coming to the net.”
