Diana Shnaider, a versatile player in 2024

Fernando Murciego | 22 Jul 2024 | 22.15

Diana Shnaider

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Of all the achievements that can be embraced to defend a player's versatility, there is one that is indisputable due to its level of difficulty and how little it is usually seen on the circuit. A milestone that Diana Shnaider unlocked this past weekend, becoming the first tennis player of 2024 to achieve a different title on the three surfaces: cement (Hua Hin), grass (Bad Homburg), and clay (Budapest). The feat takes on greater significance when we consider that the Russian started her calendar with an empty trophy cabinet, meaning that in seven months she went from having no trophies to having them in all colors. With such a wild surge, it's no surprise that we dedicate this small piece to her today.

To put the data in context, the last player to achieve this was Caroline Garcia in 2022, during the best season of her entire career. If we adjust the age parameter, where Shnaider burst onto the scene at just 20 years old, we have to go back to 2009 to find a woman who did it even younger, none other than Caroline Wozniacki. And what about her left-handedness? There are not many of them, but those who are left-handed have the ease to dominate. In the present century, only Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova –the Czech, on two occasions– managed to win titles on the three surfaces in a single season, a list to which the Russian now adds. We won't add any more sugar to the cake; with these ingredients, it is more than enough to understand that this woman is destined to do bigger things than winning the title in Budapest.

"It was a great final, I really enjoyed playing on the center court, where we had some really exciting exchanges, so I hope people also enjoyed it," Diana said this Sunday after defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich with a double 6-4, preventing the Belarusian from adding the first individual title of her career. "I think it's always nice when things are not easy in a match, when both players push each other to raise the level and quality of the game. That can only be achieved if both of us push ourselves to the limit," she valued after the 95-minute battle, where she had to constantly curb her opponent's momentum towards a possible comeback.

NEW COACH SINCE JUNE

In all this, we haven't mentioned that Shnaider's team had a significant change since the start of the grass court season. Igor Andreev, who reached No. 18 in the world in 2008, in addition to being the driving force behind Anastasia Potapova's career in recent seasons as a coach, switched ships halfway through the season to start guiding Diana's steps. A winning ship that was already moving at a good speed, but with this new captain has managed to lift two more trophies in just two months of working together. The Russian, who started the calendar year at #93 in the rankings, now boasts of being within the top 25 of the ranking this week, a vertiginous leap that threatens to keep soaring, as nobody knows where her limit may be. One thing is for sure, changing surfaces is no problem for the native of Zhigulevsk, who takes with philosophy her ability to win in different places.

"Each title that has come has been like the first one, I don't know, I feel like I'm always going to enjoy them as if they were the first, no matter what titles come," she acknowledges in statements collected by WTA after her latest success in Hungary. "Of course, I couldn't be happier to have won here in Budapest. It's been an incredible season, a year that exceeds even my own expectations," she confessed with the excitement of someone who has not yet fully assimilated all the good news coming her way in 2024. In four months, when the holidays come, we will surely have to talk about her again.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Diana Shnaider, un todoterreno en 2024