Rough diamond Shnaider finds her sparkle in breakthrough season

Diana Shnaider's four WTA titles in a breakthrough season took her to the brink of the world's top 10, and suggested the Russian might soon become known for a lot more than her trademark polka dot bandanas.

The versatile 20-year-old made bold statements with her fashion and all-court game in 2024, winning titles on the hard courts of Hua Hin and Hong Kong, as well as the grass of Bad Homburg and on clay in Budapest.

Ranked well outside the top 100 in 2022, and 60th at the end of 2023, Shnaider is now 13th in the world, with her four titles tying Aryna Sabalenka's season haul, even if two of the Belarusian's were majors. Only Iga Swiatek won more.

"It's nice to be in that company," Shnaider said.

"I'll definitely push harder to be on the same stage as them, to win more tournaments, and at even higher levels.

"That's the future. This year, I did an amazing job.

"Next year, everyone will be getting ready, knowing my game, saying, 'oh, she's tough,' stuff like that. But, it's important for me to play against the best in the world.

"Even if there are a lot of losses, I'll be as positive as possible, just keep building my game, my mentality, my physical strength. There are a lot of things I can improve and achieve to be a top-10 player. It's not a rush, I'll have to be patient."

Born in Zhigulevsk to a lawyer father who had a stint in boxing, and a mother who taught English, Shnaider tried her hand at dancing, figure skating, chess and boxing, before finding her true calling in tennis at the age of eight after her family moved to Moscow.

'Backup plan'

In an unusual step for a Russian, she had a season-long spell playing US college tennis with North Carolina State University before going professional in mid-2023.

"Honestly, if you're not American, if you're from Europe, the mentality there is, if you're going to college sports you're done with a pro career," Shnaider explained.

"My dad and I had the same opinion. I really wanted to go pro, but it was just a very hard situation. I didn't have a coach, and you have a base, so I needed a backup plan to get myself to where I'm going to be secure."

Any hint of doubt about Shnaider's potential on the elite stage was dispelled when she used her huge serve and baseline power to stun Coco Gauff, earning a first top-10 victory en route to the semifinals in Toronto in August.

It came shortly after a spectacular run to the women's doubles final at the Paris Games, where she and Mirra Andreeva were beaten by the Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.

"I missed a couple of high-level tournaments last year because I was in college," Shnaider said.

"This year, I'm playing a full year on the professional tour. It's like a puzzle, it's all coming together. You'll not notice it, but then it clicks and you're like, 'OK, I'm here and we can go for more'."

The icing on the cake came in Hong Kong last month, when Shnaider capped her season with a dominant victory over Katie Boulter to lift a WTA title in front of her family for the first time.

"I'm so happy, so proud of the way I competed. It's a dream to finish the season like this with my family by my side," said Shnaider, who was unsurprisingly nominated for the WTA Tour's Most Improved Player of the Year award.

"I hope I can keep this up next season."

REUTERS