Teenager Andreeva stuns ailing Sabalenka to reach French Open semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, was knocked out of the French Open after a shocking 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 quarter-final loss to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday after being hampered by illness throughout the match.
Victory made the 17-year-old Andreeva, who will face 12th seed Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals, the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since a 16-year-old Martina Hingis at the US Open in 1997, and the youngest at Roland Garros since the Swiss great the same year.
It also ended Australian Open champion Sabalenka's 11-match Grand Slam winning streak this year, marking her earliest major defeat since the French Open in 2022.
"It feels amazing. It was a thriller of a match and we both played good," Andreeva said.
"I'm really happy that I managed to win the match and go to my first semi-finals."
Andreeva admitted she was nervous going into the match, and her main goal was to win more than the five games she lost to Sabalenka in the Madrid quarterfinals last month.
"After I lost the first set, I was like, 'well, now I have to go for the set at least to make it three sets. Afterwards, I just tried to play point by point and win as many points as I can," Andreeva said.
"I would say that in the beginning I didn't really believe it, because she's very experienced. She has two Grand Slams in her pocket. She's a great player, very aggressive."
"So it was like, 'we'll see what will happen... I'll try to enjoy the atmosphere and try to play the best way I can'."
After easily defeating Andreeva in her previous two meetings, Belarusian Sabalenka wasted little time getting to work, as the Australian Open champion cranked up her big shots to lead 3-1 before her serve failed in the first set.
A suddenly out-of-sorts and ill Sabalenka summoned the trainer after Andreeva, sensing a real opportunity to cause a massive upset on the biggest stage, cruised to a 5-3 lead.
Sabalenka rallied to force a tiebreak, and the 2023 semi-finalist took the lead with a stunning drop shot on set point.
She appeared to struggle physically again at the start of the next set, and she received a time violation for taking too long between games.
She crouched to her knees to recover at one point and appeared agitated when trailing 4-2, allowing her Russian opponent to force a decider.
After an exchange of breaks, the pair engaged in a high-quality battle that enthralled fans on Court Philippe Chatrier, but Andreeva held her own and broke Sabalenka in the final game to secure her biggest victory on her second match point.
Andreeva stated that despite being a typical teenager, she stood out on court due to her maturity.
"I still have to do my school that I don't like to do. I watch a lot of TV in my spare time. I watch Netflix. I sometimes spend too much time on my Instagram," she added.
"But maybe what makes me a little different, I don't know if I can say it but I feel I'm a mature person. And I feel that I know what I'm doing."
SportsLigue