Dayana Yastremska caught wind in her sail in the middle of this season after winning multiple matches in every tournament from Roland-Garros to Montreal, rolling into the final in Nottingham and the semifinal in Hamburg. This was quite a contrast to last year, when she failed to reach a quarterfinal in any event after the Australian Open.
Unfortunately, it seems she has once again gone off the boil after confirming her return to the top-30 rankings. The Ukrainian has only won two matches in her last five tournaments; it mirrors her woes in the final few months of the 2024 season, when she claimed just two matches across all events after Wimbledon.
Diana Shnaider was showered with good fortune in Tokyo last year. In addition to receiving a bye, the 21-year-old also benefitted from a walkover in the quarterfinal. Consequently, she surged into the semifinal of the Pan Pacific Open after playing just a couple of sets and ultimately lost to eventual champion Zheng Qinwen.
This season, the young Russian has fallen short of replicating her 2024 success. In contrast to winning four WTA titles in the previous season, she has had to settle for a couple of semifinal-or-better results in the last 10 months, at best going on to lift her fifth career title on the Mexican hard courts of Monterrey in August.
Head-to-head: 1-1. Dayana Yastremska got the better of her higher-ranked opponent in the second round of Roland-Garros earlier this season, 7-5, 7-5, and in the process avenged her 2024 grass-court loss in Bad Homburg. Diana Shnaider has the advantage by her side in their first hard-court meeting, but must be extra careful.
