Day 12 Match of the day - part two

The only other woman who has claimed a Grand Slam trophy in such a way is Emma Raducanu back in 2021. The Briton, then 18, did it without dropping a set but, apart from that minor detail, Chwalinska is mimicking Raducanu’s every move. 

“It was such an impressive run,” she said. “Also, she was so young. So it was just incredible. I think the level is very close, the qualifying is not like much worse than the main draw. And the players in the qualifying, they are so good, as well. They are great competitors.

“We just need to believe and, you know, fight and just believe that maybe some day it will click for us, as well. That's what I would take from this experience.”

It certainly clicked for the Pole as she moved purposefully past Anna Kalinskaya in two sets and a little under two hours to reach Thursday's semifinal against Diana Shnaider. Not that she can quite believe it, though. Still in shock an hour after the match, she did not think she would take it all in until her tournament was over.

“For some reason, I don't process it, you know,” she said. “I'm just focusing on every single match. I honestly don't feel like it's a huge, huge moment for me.

“But definitely after the tournament finishes, I will have time to be grateful for what happened and process it as well. But for now, I'm just very happy, but I know that I need to focus on the job.”

Part of that job is to be annoying. Not in a bad way, you understand, but her style of play can drive her opponents to distraction. She loves to change it up, to vary the pace, to give her rivals different spins to cope with.

“It's just my game,” she said. “I just try to change the rhythm a lot. I feel like it's pretty tough to play against this kind of style, because you don't have any rhythm, and you just need to be very focused because every ball can be different. I'm aware that it can be very annoying for other players. I just try to use it as much as I can.”

Today she will discover that it takes a lot to annoy Diana Shnaider. The 22-year-old world No.23 was all but out of the tournament at a set and two breaks down against Aryna Sabalenka but then she started to attack. And the more she attacked, the more Sabalenka panicked.

Shnaider took the last 10 games of the match, and 12 of the last 13. She saw Sabalenka blink in that second set and she pounced. From the moment the No.1 tried to serve for the match at 5-3, Shnaider went for it.

“I thought I have to change something up now,” she said, making it sound so simple. “I feel like I just had the relief where I was, I got to go for my shots, I have to be more aggressive, I got to step in.”

And she did. But for one who had never been so deep into a Grand Slam draw before, she never flinched as the games sped by. She was playing like a seasoned champion.

“I was, like, yes, you are in the right direction,” she said. “You've got to stay, just focus on yourself, don't focus too much on her, what she's talking to her team or whatever what she's doing. I was just trying to only think about myself, what I have to do, and just go point by point.”

Now she has to try and do that against Chwalinska on Thursday. “She's very tricky with the dropshots and slices,” Shnaider said. “Obviously she's a lefty. So it's going to be a big switch for me for tomorrow's match. I'm expecting a huge fight tomorrow. I feel like it's going to be a great match.”