Teenager Andreeva stuns ailing Sabalenka to make French Open semis

 

[June 06, 2024]  By Shrivathsa Sridhar

PARIS (Reuters) -Second seed Aryna Sabalenka was sent crashing out of the French Open after a shock 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 quarter-final loss to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday after being hampered by illness throughout the contest.

Victory made the 17-year-old Andreeva, who will face 12th seed Jasmine Paolini in the last four, the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since a 16-year-old Martina Hingis at the U.S. Open in 1997 and the youngest at Roland Garros since the Swiss great that same year.

It also snapped Australian Open champion Sabalenka's 11-match winning run at the Grand Slams this year and ensured her earliest defeat at the majors 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 said she came into the match full of nerves and her main goal was to win more than the five games she did during her defeat by Sabalenka in the Madrid quarter-finals 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'."

Having won her last two meetings with Andreeva comfortably, Belarusian Sabalenka wasted little time getting to work as the Australian Open champion cranked up her big shots to go ahead 3-1 before her serve came undone in the opening set.

A suddenly out-of-sorts and unwell Sabalenka called the trainer out after Andreeva, sensing a real opportunity to cause a massive upset on the biggest stage, cruised to a 5-3 lead.

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 5, 2024 Russia's Mirra Andreeva reacts after winning her quarter final match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Yves Herman

But Sabalenka regrouped to force a tiebreak where the 2023 semi-finalist seized the advantage with a stunning drop shot on set-point.

She appeared to struggle physically again at the start of the next set and got a time violation for taking too long between games.

She crouched to her knees to recover at one point, and looked agitated at 4-2 down, eventually allowing her Russian opponent to take the match into a decider.

After an exchange of breaks, the pair were locked in a high-quality battle that thrilled fans on Court Philippe Chatrier but Andreeva held her own and broke Sabalenka in the final game to complete her biggest win on her second match point.

Andreeva said that although she was a typical teenager, she stood out on court because of 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."

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Toby Davis)

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