By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) – The script was ripped up at Roland Garros on Wednesday as ailing second seed Aryna Sabalenka and off-colour fourth seed Elena Rybakina were sent tumbling out in the quarter-finals.
Hampered by illness throughout her match, Sabalenka crashed to a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 defeat to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva as the Australian Open champion’s 11-match Grand Slam winning streak ground to a halt on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 26-year-old barely looked like she could continue but soldiered on as fans on the main showcourt got behind her, but Andreeva took full advantage and reached her maiden major semi-final, becoming the youngest in the last four at a grand slam since Martina Hingis in 1997.
Andreeva’s refreshingly fearless strokeplay has caught the eye at Roland Garros and she paid tribute to her coach Conchita Martinez, although she admitted it was hard to keep track of all her instructions.
“Me and my coach had a plan today, but I didn’t remember anything,” Andreeva said. “I just tried to play as I feel… Having her by my side is an amazing advantage for me.
“I’m really happy that she still works with me.”
Andreeva’s opponent in the next round could have been Rybakina but the Russian-born Kazakh failed to find a way past Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who battled hard to secure a 6-2 4-6 6-4 win.
“It was a really tough match. I was a little too emotional in the first set,” Paolini said.
“But then I said to myself, ‘Okay, it’s good, she’s a great champion, so it can happen, you know? Just fight, try to keep it there, try to hit every ball.’ And it worked.
“(The key was) to forget what happened in the second set because it can happen. It’s tennis. It’s normal. I managed to come back, to stay there and stay focused. Even if I had the break two times again. I just accept that and fight again.”
Paolini’s compatriot Jannik Sinner had ensured that he would become the world number one for the first time next Monday after defending champion Novak Djokovic pulled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
Reports in the French and Serbian media said the 37-year-old Djokovic had surgery in Paris but there was no confirmation from the player, whose hopes of playing in Wimbledon and at the Paris Olympics could be affected by the injury.
With Djokovic’s withdrawal sending seventh seed Casper Ruud through to the semi-finals, fourth-seed Alexander Zverev and 11th seed Alex de Minaur were set to face off in the other quarter-final on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Toby Davis)
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