French Open: Mirra Andreeva, 17, stuns world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka to reach first Grand Slam semi-final

Seventeen-year-old Mirra Andreeva reached her first Grand Slam semi-final as she shocked Aryna Sabalenka in the last eight at Roland Garros, beating the world No 2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4.

Sabalenka, struggling with illness throughout the contest, still managed to claim a remarkable opening set, which saw six breaks of serve, courtesy of a tie-break.

Having comfortably won her last two meetings with Andreeva, the Belarusian had raced into a 3-1 before her own serve came undone in the opening set.

After losing four games on the bounce to trail 5-3, Sabalenka called for the trainer out and took some medication before regrouping to force a tie-break which she edged.

But the Australian Open champion would continue to struggle physically at the start of the second set and received a time violation at one point for taking too long between games, crouching to her knees to try and recover.

Andreeva would go on to force a decider and, after an exchange of breaks, the pair were locked in a high-quality battle that thrilled fans on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Andreeva would go on to clinch a memorable victory as the teenager broke Sabalenka in the final game, lobbing her opponent for the win on her second match point.

Paolini knocks out Rybakina in quarter-final classic

Jasmine Paolini booked a place in the final four of the French Open for the first time, knocking out fourth seed Elena Rybakina in an epic quarter-final.

The 28-year-old Italian staved off a fightback from the Kazakh former Wimbledon champion to seal a stunning 6-2 4-6 6-4 win, setting up a semi-final meeting with Andreeva.

Playing in her first career Grand Slam quarter-final, Paolini got off to a confident start, cruising through the opening set but suffered a major wobble when losing four service games in a row across the second and third.

The 12th-seeded Paolini had twice broken Rybakina in the second set, only to immediately be broken back and, rather than clinch victory in straight sets, she was suddenly forced into a decider as she lost her serve yet again.

The two players traded four further breaks to open the third set before Paolini finally returned to the level she showed early in the match, taking advantage of a slew of Rybakina errors to earn the decisive break in the ninth game before serving out for a famous victory.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling. It was a really tough match,” Paolini said after clinching a semi-final spot.

“I think I was a little bit too emotional in the second set but I said to myself, ‘it’s good, she’s a great champion, so it can happen’.

“I tried to stay there every point. I managed to come back, stay focused and fight again.”

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?

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• Stuttgart Open (ATP 250 with Andy Murray in action) – June 10-16
• Rosmalen Open (ATP/WTA 250) – June 10-16

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