Pairing up again but enemies from a semi-final

Interesting match-up coming up

Shnaider confirms her current form by crushing Navarro 6-3 6-3. When I say the American hates big hitters… Match totally under control. You can feel and see a Diana who’s full of confidence in her tennis, and the work with Bajin over the last six months is clearly paying off.

Sascha Bajin has coached some big names: Osaka, Vekic, Pliskova, Yastremska… all players who advocate ultra-aggressive tennis. Not to mention his past as a hitting partner alongside Serena Williams, Azarenka, or Wozniacki. This man has always operated within the circle of winners. He knows how to instill an offensive approach while reading the opponent perfectly.

To this day, Shnaider still has a glass ceiling against the top 10: just one win in twelve meetings. Why not now? The confidence is there, the tennis is aggressive, suffocating, and precise. 30 winners against Navarro, very few unforced errors. In her post-match interview, she talks about her coaching and her backhand. She knows that side is weaker than her forehand and that players attack that area a lot. She also explains that she’s working on it intensely with Bajin and that it’s starting to pay off. It’s clearly visible when you watch her. She’s very excited at the idea of playing on the main court, and she’s definitely one to be reckoned with.

Mirra, on the other hand, has been very disappointing over the last six months. Not top-10 level tennis over that stretch, even if she’s starting to look better here. Very little opposition so far in Adelaide: a Bouzkova who doesn’t have the game for this type of matchup, and a recovering Maya Joint. Her only recent loss was to Kostyuk, a profile much closer to Shnaider in terms of constant aggression. Her all-time record against left-handers is also negative. Conchita Martinez, her coach, didn’t even want Mirra to play Adelaide so she could properly prepare for the AO, and that’s surely no coincidence. Mirra’s arrogance took over. She might pay for it.

Finally, they’re doubles partners all year long, know each other perfectly well (ranked 11 and 15 in the world), which, in my view, favors the player in form at the moment. H2H in Mirra’s favor 1–0, but from two years ago. Not necessarily a benchmark in itself.