Seventeen-year-old Mirra Andreeva advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal with a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 over second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.
Early in the first set, world No.38 Andreeva twice came back from a break deficit and then won four consecutive games, turning a 1-3 disadvantage into a 5-3 lead, while Sabalenka appeared to struggle with her health. However, when serving for the set at 5-4, Andreeva was broken, allowing Sabalenka to level the score and push the set into a tiebreak. Sabalenka clinched the tiebreak with a drop shot on her second set point.
In the second set, after an exchange of breaks in the first two games, Andreeva achieved a love break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Sabalenka, however, fought back to level the score at 4-4. Despite this, the 17-year-old Russian broke serve once more and clinched the second set in 46 minutes. This marked the first set reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka had lost in a Grand Slam all year, bringing her record to 23-1.
In the deciding set, Sabalenka recovered from a break down to level the score at 3-3. She saved a match point at 5-4 with a gutsy winner but ultimately succumbed to Andreeva’s second match point, which the young Russian converted with a perfectly executed lob.
Andreeva’s next opponent will be fellow first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Jasmine Paolini, who upset Elena Rybakina earlier on Wednesday. The other semifinal at Roland Garros 2024 features two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek against Coco Gauff.
