Aryna Sabalenka, considered the main contender to prevent Iga Swiatek from winning a third consecutive French Open title, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva (6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in 2h29 of play).
Beaten by Iga Swiatek in the final of the Madrid and Rome tournaments, ahead of the French Open, the Belarusian will not have the opportunity to take her revenge at Porte d’Auteuil, as the entire circuit imagined. .
His run of six Grand Slam semi-finals, punctuated by two Australian Open titles, also came to an end. Aryna Sabalenka, eliminated in the semi-finals of Roland-Garros last year, fails once again in her quest for the title.
She seemed physically diminished this Wednesday against Mirra Andreeva, appearing exhausted after long exchanges during which her mobility was limited.
She called the doctor and left the court after the first set, which she still pocketed. Aryna Sabalenka then broke at the start of the second set, but Mirra Andreeva did not give up and equalized at one set everywhere.
In the decisive round, with her quality of defense and her backhand, the young Russian pushed the Belarusian to increase the number of unforced errors (41 in total). It was with a final backhand, lobbed this time, that Mirra Andreeva concluded the match, on her second match point.
Youngest semi-finalist since Martina Hingis
“I didn’t really have a plan. Well, yes, we had one with my coach but I forgot everything,” she admitted on court after her victory, triggering laughter from the Philippe-Chatrier court .
Mirra Andreeva continues to impress with her precocity: at 17, she becomes the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open.
“I was very stressed before the match,” she said, while this is her second presence in the main draw of Roland-Garros. This was not seen during the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, in his fifth appearance in a tournament of this magnitude.
The native of Krasnoyarsk eliminated the one who had beaten her big sister Erika Andreeva (19 years old) in the first round of the tournament (6-1, 6-2) and reached the last four of a WTA tournament for the first time.
She confirms the rise in power observed since the start of the season, like her quarter-final at the WTA 1000 in Madrid last May where she was beaten by her opponent of the day (6-1, 6-4).
From Conchita Martinez
Ranked 38th in the WTA, while she was 143rd a year earlier, Mirra Andreeva will be at least 23rd player in the world at the end of the French Open, her best career rank (33rd so far).
The Russian has been training in France since 2022. After the Elite Tennis Center in Cannes, she joined the All In Academy in Villeneuve-Loubet, still on the Côte d’Azur, with the Spaniard Conchita Martinez, finalist at Roland -Garros in 2000. “She supports me a lot. Sometimes I don’t remember some information but having her with me is a huge advantage,” she said.
In the next round, Mirra Andreeva will face another novice in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, the Italian Jasmine Paolini, who fell earlier in the day to the Kazakh and number 4 seed Elena Rybakina (6-2 , 4-6, 6-4). “I will try to play in the same way and with a cool head as well.”
