Andreeva stunned Sabalenka for her first Grand Slam semifinal.
World No. 38 Mirra Andreeva has been through to her first Grand Slam semifinal after stunning No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open.
Andreeva, who turned 17 in late April, recovered from a set down to beat two-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4.
In less than 24 hours, Andreeva will return to the court to play No. 12 seed Jasmine Paolini, who upset Elena Rybakina earlier today.
By beating Sabalenka, Andreeva also became the first player in 2024 to beat the Belarusian at the Grand Slam level. Previously, Sabalenka won the Australian Open and also her opening four matches at Roland Garros.
How Andreeva upset Sabalenka?
The first set was full of ups and downs, with both players struggling to hold to their serve.
After blowing an early break, Sabalenka earned another break for a 3-1 lead but then Andreeva responded with back-to-back breaks and won the next four games to go 5-3 up. Then, another twist happened after Sabalenka broke back Andreeva in the 10th game to ultimately force a tie-break.
In the first-set tie-break, Sabalenka won the opening point and never allowed Andreeva to get a lead as the Belarusian earned two consecutive set points at 6-4 before converting her second set point to win a tight first set.
After six breaks of serve were seen in the first set, the second set started with Sabalenka breaking Andreeva in the first game and the Russian instantly responding with a break back in the second game. After recovering from an early second-set break, Andreeva broke Sabalenka again in the sixth game to go 4-2 up but instantly got broken back in the following game.
However, Andreeva was able to keep her composure and serve out the ninth game for a 5-4 lead before earning two set points and realizing her second on Sabalenka’s serve to send the match into a third set.
After dropping the second set, Sabalenka earned the first break of the decider in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead. Down by a break, 17-year-old Andreeva showed some outstanding mental fortitude as she responded by breaking Sabalenka in the sixth and 10th games to overturn the deficit and complete her three-set win.
In the 10th game on Sabalenka’s serve, Andreeva didn’t realize her first match point but the Belarusian didn’t give her a chance in that point. But on a second match point, Andreeva hit an outstanding lob to seal the win.
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