Maria Sakkari nearly loses her mind, and the match, against 106th-ranked Diana Shnaider

The Break: Camila Giorgi's vaccine scandal and an Australian Open lookahead

I may be biased, but our Beginner's Guide series of articles on Baseline are well worth your time. The latest entry spotlighted Diana Shnaider, an 18-year-old from Russia who plays for North Carolina State. Well, for the moment, at least, considering her success in Melbourne, and the lucrative prize money she can collect if she decides to turn pro.

Shnaider ran through the qualifying draw, winning all of her matches in straight sets before posting another two-set victory in the main draw against Kristina Kucova.

She really began turning heads, though, when she won her next set against Maria Sakkari, the Australian Open's No. 6 seed. The Greek has come tantalizingly close to a Grand Slam breakthrough before, but found herself at the mercy of Shnaider's hard-hitting game that belied her experience.

Nine games into the second set, and Sakkari still couldn't shake Shnaider. Returning at 4-5, deuce, Sakkari had her chance to even the match. Instead, Shnaider responded with two winners—and two big cheers.

In Sakkari's opinion, those exaltions were directed squarely at her—"to my face":

Though Shnaider was closer to the upset, she may have inspired her uber-talented opponent: Sakkari won the next two games and won a drama-free third set, 6-3.

There appeared to be no hard feelings between the players, 100 ranking spots apart, when it was all over. In fact, Sakkari even doled out some helpful advice to Shnaider:

Perhaps Sakkari was referring to Shnaider's game that seems suited for Slams, rather than dual matches; or to the prize money she can collect for her second-round showing (nearly $200,000). Or both.

Or, perhaps she was referring to that prolonged, vocal celebration that Sakkari would prefer to stay in college and never graduate to the real world.