Andreeva, 17, takes out Sabalenka at Roland Garros!
Mirra Andreeva pulled off the feat of the fortnight at Roland Garros, beating Aryna Sabalenka to qualify for the semi-finals. Trailing 1 set to 0 by the world n°2, the young Russian managed to turn the tables to win in three sets (6-7, 6-4, 6-4) and 2 hours and a half.
Sabalenka's press conference will probably tell us more, but the Belarusian seemed to be in poor physical form on Wednesday. Almost from the start of the match, she struggled to catch her breath after hard-fought points. She called in the doctor in the 2nd set to try and find a solution, but to no avail.
But Andreeva's ironclad defense didn't help matters. The Russian, coached by Conchita Martinez (Roland Garros finalist in 2000, beaten by Mary Pierce), put up an intense physical fight against Sabalenka, who finally gave in on her opponent's second match point. Again, a sumptuous defensive shot from the Russian teenager, a lob that the Belarussian didn't even watch fall back into the court, as she knew she was beaten.
In Thursday's semi-finals, Andreeva will face the day's other surprise, Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who beat world No.4 Elena Rybakina earlier in the afternoon.
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