RALEIGH – NC State women’s tennis has added Russian standout Diana Shnaider to its roster for the upcoming season, as announced by head coach Simon Earnshaw on Monday.
A native of Moscow, Shnaider comes to Raleigh after a decorated junior tennis career during which she achieved a personal-best ITF Juniors combined ranking of No. 2 and is currently No. 246 in singles and No. 325 in doubles in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.
“We are extremely excited and proud to be able to add Diana to this year’s team as the highest-ranked and most accomplished recruit in program history,” said Earnshaw. “I’ve been really impressed with Diana’s vision and plan for her game, as well as her openness and understanding of how we can help her grow as she moves toward a professional tennis career at the highest level. All credit to (assistant coach) David (Secker) for leading what has been a somewhat logistically-challenging process. Go Pack!”
Shnaider won a pair of Junior Grand Slam doubles titles, claiming victories at the 2021 Wimbledon and 2022 Australian Open events. She was also a finalist at the French Open in 2020. Shnaider also competed in multiple Junior Grand Slam singles draws, going as far as the semifinals at the 2021 French Open and the quarterfinals of the 2022 Australian Open.
Over the course of her career, Shnaider has won five ITF singles titles and most recently claimed a win at the ITF Istanbul tournament in May. In one of the biggest wins of her career, Shnaider emerged victorious in singles at the 2021 Villena J1 Trofeo Juan Carlos Ferrero. In doubles, she is a six-time winner on the ITF circuit. Shnaider also won the 2021 Orange Bowl, Eddie Herr and Banana Bowl doubles titles. In 2019, Shnaider represented Russia in the 2019 Junior Fed Cup finals as well.
Shnaider will join the Wolfpack for the start of the 2022-23 season and will be immediately eligible to play.
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