Young Mirra Andreeva’s voice trembles. Logical. She is 17 years old, she has just knocked down the number two in the world (6-7(5), 6-4 and 6-4 Aryna Sabalenka) and she is already expressing herself as the youngest semi-finalist in a major tournament since a certain Martina Hingis, five majors and the top for the Swiss wonder, reached the penultimate round of the US Open in 1997. So suddenly, the Russian upstart has forgotten everything, because after all, she will set foot on such a level for the first time. high in a scenario with similar characteristics. She always imposes the Chatrier, but between ball and ball, she doesn’t flinch. Faced with the frustrated fieryness of the rival, one more ball in.
“I wasn’t very clear at times how the score was going, because I tried not to concentrate on that. And on the second match point, I tried to imagine that I had to save a ball from break. My coach and I had a plan, but I didn’t remember anything,” she is honest. And she smiles and approves and tenderly observes Conchita Martínez from the bench, who knows something about this and has something to say about the kidney blow that the Russian has given. Last year she already hinted, uncovering the potential of her tennis at the Caja Mágica (quarters) and later making herself noticed again at Wimbledon (eighths), and she is now shining in Paris, the setting for a historic setback in time.
Tennis, a sport fertile ground for precocity, proudly displays its latest gem: right-handed, two-handed backhand, 1.75 meters tall and mobile. Above all, naturalness and spontaneity. It had to happen. “I just go out and play, although adjustments can always be made,” he says, while Conchita writes down again and again in her notebook. “He has a lot of texts, and then we get together and talk about all of it. He asks me for my opinion, what playing pattern I feel most comfortable with. He knows how to give me energy and make me more optimistic. We laugh a lot and all that means that I don’t have so much tension during the matches,” he conceded these days in which he has left behind Bektas (98th), Azarenka (21st), Stearns (62nd), Gracheva (88th) and now, Sabalenka.
Without even having reached the age of majority, she is already 38th on the circuit and the victory against the Belarusian, blurred from start to finish, will catapult her to 23rd place. When asked, Conchita describes her as hard-working and competitive, a “sponge,” and she appreciates her listening skills above all. In April, coinciding with the Madrid tournament, they began an open testing process, without set deadlines, which was extended to Rome and now to the Bois de Boulogne. The bond not only prospers, but gains strength and could crystallize if performance continues along the same lines.
Two ways: Raducanu or Gauff
“I wouldn’t say I’m a negative person, but it’s hard for me to be happy when I see that not everything is going well. She has taught me to find happiness in the little things I do well on the court. I hope we have a great future together,” says the Siberian, chiseled at the Cannes school—accompanied by her sister Erika, 18 years old, defeated by Sabalenka in the first round—and who is enjoying her fifth experience in a Grand Slam. She hasn’t needed a single trip to leave the first traces and say that she is here: since ’99, when Jelena Dokic beat Martina Hingis at Wimbledon, there was no one so young who was capable of knocking down a number two; and she rewinds to 90, Seles to Graf, to apply the data to Roland Garros.
It remains to be seen what direction it takes now, the double possibility of the bifurcation: that of a simple explosion in a big way and an early disappearance, in the case of the British Emma Raducanu, for example, or the route of perseverance and determination chosen by the American Coco Gauff, a finalist here two years ago (at 18) and who triumphed in New York last summer, already at 20. Inspired by the guerrilla spirit of the Scotsman Andy Murray and represented by the multinational IMG, which rarely misses already any young talent, she now faces an unexpected encounter with Jasmine Paolini, also a first-timer in a semi-final of such magnitude.
Against all odds, the Italian, 28 years old and 15th in the world, a journeyman on the circuit, beats Elena Rybakina (6-2, 4-6 and 6-4) and the panorama that was theoretically envisioned shatters into a thousand pieces. The Kazakh and Sabalenka fall, a priori the favorites in these two matches on Wednesday, and on the other hand, the candidacies of Iga Swiatek and Gauff, mentioned in the first semi-final this Thursday (3:00 p.m., Eurosport; below, the next one), gain more strength. The gap is evident, then. After the coronation of Jannik Sinner, new king of the ATP, Paolini highlights the happy moment of tennis in her country and follows in the footsteps of Francesca Schiavone, champion in 2010 and finalist in 2011; Sara Errani, runner-up in 2012; and Martina Trevisan, semi-finalist in 2022.
ZVEREV, A REGULAR TO THE SEMI-FINALS
AC | Paris
Alexander Zverev, 24 years old and number four in the world, will play in the semifinals of the tournament by beating the Australian Alex de Minaur 6-4, 7-6 (5) and 6-4, in 2h 59m. It will be the fourth consecutive time that the German, Rafael Nadal’s executioner in the first round, has played.
It is his eighth Grand Slam semi-final, which equals those that Daniil Medvedev has played so far, both leaders in this section among players born since 1990.
On Friday he will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who did not have the need to take the court due to Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal as a result of a meniscus injury similar to the one he underwent surgery on Wednesday in Paris.
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