Gauff racked up 42 unforced errors in windy conditions to lose to a player younger than her for the first time in her career.
Diana Shnaider’s breakthrough 2024 season now includes a Top 10 win—and it was a big one. The 20-year-old left-hander toppled No. 1 seed Coco Gauff in Friday’s third round at the National Bank Open in Toronto 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her young career.
Shnaider, a three-time junior doubles Grand Slam champion, announced herself last year by establishing a Top 100 ranking while playing college tennis at North Carolina State University. But her year so far has seen her win three singles titles, including a 500-level event on grass in Berlin, and make her Top 50 and Top 40 debuts in the rankings. She came to Toronto seeded No. 14 (ranked No. 24, one spot of her career high) and on the back of winning a silver medal in doubles with Mirra Andreeva at the Paris Olympics.
It marked Gauff’s first loss before the quarterfinals in Canada in four appearances. Gauff, too, had previously been 7-0 against players younger than her in her professional career before Friday’s defeat to Shnaider, who was born three weeks after her in 2004.
Windy conditions proved Gauff’s undoing in 70 minutes on court, as she racked up 42 unforced errors—nearly double that of Shnaider.
The Russian, who possesses finishing power off of both wings, was content to stay as consistent as she could while hitting with depth, and benefited as Gauff mistimed shots and serves on more than a handful of occasions.
Gauff served eight double faults as she was broken three times, and hit two of those double faults on break points against her in the second set. The only break point she created on Shnaider’s serve came at 1-1 in set two, on which Gauff buried a forehand return in the middle of the net.
“I think she kind of knew to just stay steady because I was giving her a lot of errors,” Gauff said post-match. “She normally hits big when I see her play, but I think today I was just giving her too many errors, so it wasn’t necessary for her to do that.
“I think overall, there [was] no part of my game that I felt comfortable in today.”
For a spot in the semifinals, Shnaider will face No. 6 seed and 2023 finalist Liudmila Samsonova, who was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Belgian Elise Mertens in her third-round match. Mertens had beaten four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the previous round.