Mirra Andreeva becomes the youngest player in the 21st century to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after beating Aryna Sabalenka in French Open QF
Mirra Andreeva has become the youngest tennis player, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in the 21st century. She achieved the feat after beating World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinal of the 2024 French Open.
Mirra Andreeva is currently ranked World No. 38 and came up against the reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in her maiden Major quarterfinal in Paris on June 5. Sabalenka convincingly defeated Andreeva in their previous two encounters and was the favorite to emerge victorious once again.
But the Belarusian was not at the top of her game and seemed to be suffering from medical issues. Both women exchanged three breaks each to send the first set into a tiebreaker, which Sabalenka managed to eke out. Andreeva regrouped well in the second set to send the match into a decider.
In the third set, the duo did well to keep the contest interesting until Sabalenka's service game at 5-4. Andreeva forced a deuce and ousted the Belarusian by converting the second match point and winning the encounter 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 in nearly two hours and 30 minutes.
With this win, Mirra Andreeva, aged 17, has become the youngest player, man or woman, in this century to reach a semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament. The teenage Russian is the youngest player to reach a Major semifinal since Martina Hingis, who was 17 when she played the semifinal at the 1997 US Open.
Mirra Andreeva to face Jasmine Paolini in French Open 2024 SF
Mirra Andreeva will be up against another player competing in her maiden Grand Slam semifinal in the form of Jasmine Paolini when the two play the semifinal at the 2024 French Open on June 6. Paolini defeated the No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina in her quarterfinal in Paris 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on June 5.
Andreeva has not only been successful in defending her third round points from last year at the Roland Garros but is set to break into the top 30 WTA ranking for the first time thanks to her exploits on the Parisian clay. The Russian has defeated Emina Bektas, 19th seed Victoria Azarenka, Peyton Stearns, Varvara Gracheva, and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the last four stage.
Meanwhile, Paolini, who won the biggest title of her career at the WTA 1000 Dubai Tennis Championships in February, has continued her outstanding form in Paris. She has gone past Daria Saville, Hailey Baptiste, Bianca Andreescu, Elina Avanesyan and Elena Rybakina in Paris. The diminutive Italian is set to return to the top 10 in the WTA rankings after her amazing run at Roland Garros.