Historic Chaos at 2026 French Open as Diana Shnaider Stuns World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka
The 2026 French Open at Roland Garros has dissolved into historic, unprecedented chaos. Following a series of shocking upsets, this tournament marks the first Grand Slam since the 1977 French Open to feature a semifinal lineup with zero former major champions across both the men's and women's singles draws.
The crowning blow to the brackets came on June 3, 2026, when world No. 1 and overwhelming tournament favorite Aryna Sabalenka suffered a spectacular quarterfinal collapse against Russia's Diana Shnaider. Sabalenka was in absolute control of the match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, leading 6-3, 4-1, and later serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set. However, a resilient Shnaider broke Sabalenka's serve three times to snatch the second set 7-5, before completely dominant play saw her bagel a visibly unraveling Sabalenka 6-0 in the third set. Shnaider won the final ten consecutive games of the match to reach her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.
The magic continued for qualifiers as Poland's Maja Chwalinska—who had won only two Tour-level matches on clay before the tournament—defeated Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the semifinals. She is only the second women's qualifier in the Open Era to reach the French Open semifinals.
In the men's draw, Matteo Berrettini's fairytale run was cut short by a left leg injury, forcing him to retire while trailing Matteo Arnaldi 7-5, 5-2. Arnaldi's victory sets up an all-Italian semifinal against 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli (who defeated 4th-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime), guaranteeing an Italian finalist in Paris despite the early exit of world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.