It has been a season filled with breakout performances for Diana Shnaider. The former college standout, who was ranked No. 84 this time last year, has catapulted up the rankings and is currently the youngest player left in either singles draw at this year’s US Open, as well as the youngest player in the WTA’s Top 20, at No. 18.
A bandana-clad southpaw (if you know, you know) who takes full advantage of her “leftiness”, Shnaider plays a methodical, probing brand of tennis that is already proving effective at the highest level of the sport.
This summer Shnaider showed off her versatility as she became the only WTA player who has won titles on three different surfaces in 2024, making her the youngest woman to achieve the feat in a single season since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
After her winning her maiden title in Hua Hin, Thailand, in February, Shnaider triumphed on the grass of Bad Homburg, Germany, in June一winning her biggest title to date一before raising the trophy on the red clay of Budapest in July.
Three surfaces, three titles, and a whole lot of confidence.
“I feel like I can do great on every surface, I just need a little bit of time to adjust,” the 20-year-old said on Saturday, after blitzing Italy’s Sara Errani to reach the Round of 16 at a major for the first time. “But honestly I was very surprised that my first career [title] was on hard court, because in my junior career, all of my greatest results were on clay.”
Shnaider, who played NCAA tennis for a season at North Carolina State University, has had her compass pointed north since she went full-time on the tour. In May of this year she made her Top 50 debut then, after aforementioned titles, carried that momentum to the North American hard courts.
Three weeks ago Shnaider cracked another milestone by taking out No. 2-ranked Coco Gauff in Toronto for her first Top-10 win. The accomplishment made her downright giddy.
“I was so excited to play against her,” she tells USOpen.org. “The match before, I wanted to win just to play Coco and see how it would go. I went into the match with no expectations, saying I would go and fight and focus on every point. I knew Coco would be a very tough opponent so I was trying to stay focused and to be ready for long rallies.”
Shnaider says that going toe-to-toe with Gauff in long rallies was one of the highlights of her summer.
“In the first few long rallies that I won I was like, 'Yeahhhhh! I beat Coco in long rallies!'” she says with a laugh. “I just tried to put every ball in and if I had a moment to be a little more aggressive, I would take advantage.”
The highlights just keep coming for Shnaider in 2024. She’s garnered much attention for her trademark bandanas, which give her a "Pirates of the Caribbean" look. Shnaider, who buys fabric and has a seamstress make them form-fitting, often asks her mom for advice on which one to wear.
The offbeat look has given her a cult following, but winning with regularity is the real reason she has become a hit with tennis purists.
Here on the speedy hard courts of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Shnaider has dropped a mere 13 games through three rounds in her main draw debut, and she is the youngest player remaining in either singles draw.
The ACC Freshman of the Year at North Carolina State, Shnaider led the Wolfpack to the 2023 Women's Tennis ACC Championship and a runner-up NCAA finish, then officially turned pro in May of 2023.
She says her college experience, both at school and on the court, helped her prepare her for her professional career, but it wasn’t an easy experience.
“I have just been growing up over time. The more matches I am getting, the better I am feeling on the court."
“I remember I was struggling. I was crying to my mom on the phone, then crying to the coaches, saying, ‘Why did they give me these classes?’” she said, referring to a heavy course load that included psychology, biology and early American studies. “For sure it definitely helped me with time management.”
Shnaider also honed critical elements of her game from a tactical and psychological perspective at NC State.
“I was just realizing some things on the tennis court: where to play, how to play, some strategy things on the court,” she said. “First month I was there and the coaches explained things and it made no sense, then I came to the tennis court, won some matches and said, ‘It’s making sense now.’
“They just shifted my mind about how to play a little bit better.”
Last year, when she turned pro to chase her lifelong dream, Shnaider was a little sad at first, and missed the camaraderie of her college days.
“I would say last year the first few months when I was traveling by myself it was very tough, because I had those memories of traveling with a team—there were car trips, plane trips, team moments. For the first few months for sure I was sad about it,” she said.
Fast forward a year, and Shnaider’s adjusted perfectly to the rigors of the tour. Some young players lack the belief to compete with the tour’s elite, but Shnaider had a vision from the moment she left college.
“It was one of my goals, to be a Top 20 player by the end of the year,” Shnaider, who faces Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16 on Monday, said, adding: “I have just been growing up over time. The more matches I am getting, the better I am feeling on the court, I feel like it’s just coming with time and playing good matches.”
