AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2026

Diana Shnaider

Press Conference

D. SHNAIDER/T. Gibson

3-6, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Great win today for you, saving three match points. Talk about how happy you are to be in the third round.

DIANA SHNAIDER: Yeah, I'm super happy. I think it was a very tough match. I think Talia played amazing in the first set. She showed some, again, great performance. There was a lot of, you know, Aussie crowd cheering for her, so for sure definitely she was very helped.

But I'm, yeah, super happy that I was able to pull this off, because it was very intense and super close. Yeah, means a lot to win matches like that for the confidence to the next round.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Well done today. Compared to a normal point in the middle of a random game, how do you approach your three match points? Again, you're playing a home-crowd favorite. How do you approach that?

DIANA SHNAIDER: Well, thank God it was on my serve. I just try to go for my serve and then just, you know, rally, but don't be, like, too defensive, because obviously she's a big hitter.

So if I would slow it down a little bit, be a little bit more defensive, she would step in and just rip it. So I just tried to be, you know, play safe, but at the same time, also aggressive so I didn't give her a lot of opportunity.

Q. Then talking about the third set, obviously you won the second, but then she immediately got the early break and went up 2-Love. What's your mind at that point, and how did you quickly turn that around?

DIANA SHNAIDER: Yeah, I mean, yeah, breaks happens, and I just try to be still in a match, because I know that it has ups and downs through the whole match. So I just tried to keep my composure after losing my serve, just to stay focused and keep doing what I've been doing in the second set, and wait for that momentum shifted and just to step up even more.

Q. Yesterday Ukrainian player Oleksandra Oliynykova, she condemned Russian players who had competed in exhibition matches sponsored by Gazprom, the big Russian oil company, due to its links to the Ukraine war. What's your response to that? I guess, do you plan on competing in further tournaments where they are a sponsor?

DIANA SHNAIDER: Well, you know, we've been on tour for the whole year, and I rarely see my family, rarely being home, so my only motivation is to be playing in St. Petersburg is just to visit my family, to show some great tennis for my fans who have been following us through the year, rooting for us and supporting us. If I have this opportunity, I'm taking it.

Q. Just as a follow-up to that, she also talked about how an interview you gave where you talked about wanting to meet Putin, because you got an award with Mirra, I think. I just wanted to give you the right to reply on that as well.

DIANA SHNAIDER: I honestly have no idea what she said. I really don't know her, and I don't think she knows me, but me and Mirra, we had such a great year together. I think just to have a silver medal at the Olympics, it was an amazing achievement. That's it. I don't have anything to comment on further.

Q. What are your thoughts on, I guess, a single player making such big kind of statements in the context of a tournament like that?

DIANA SHNAIDER: You mean her statement?

Q. Yeah, sorry.

DIANA SHNAIDER: Yeah, again, I haven't saw what statement she made, and I don't know what was her intention there, to be honest.

Me personally here just to play tennis, just do my job, show some great tennis, enjoy the crowd, enjoy the atmosphere, the first Grand Slam of the year. That's what I'm here to do: Just win as many matches as I can and show great tennis.

Q. How do you see your level right now?

DIANA SHNAIDER: I think it's pretty good. Obviously there is still a lot of things that we've been working, a lot of things that can be improved. You know, the work never stops.

But so far, you know, I think it's been pretty solid, making semis in Adelaide and here again in the third round. So far I'm, yeah, very happy with the results.

Q. How did you see last year? Because obviously you had that breakthrough 2024, and then last year was tricky to follow that up. How did you find it?

DIANA SHNAIDER: Yeah, for sure it was very tricky. A lot of emotions, I will say. Just you thinking that after that 2024 is going to be even better, when at the same time, you know a lot of players already know you, what you do on court, how to play against you. They have more information.

Also, there is much more, I would say, you expect more from yourself and also people expect more from you. I think I wasn't ready to face those type of emotions yet, but also, I did an amazing job in 2024 and I had a lot to defend.

I think I'm still super happy how the 2025 went, because I definitely had some struggles, but still to finish the year in top 25 after that incredible year in 2024, I'm still happy and was proud of the result.