(Paris) Jasmine Paolini advanced to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career on Wednesday after defeating fourth seed Elena Rybakina 6-2, 4- 6 and 6-4 at Roland Garros.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” exclaimed Paolini.

Paolini, the 12th seed, was ousted before the third round in her first 16 career Grand Slam appearances, before reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open last January.

She has now progressed two more rounds, having knocked out the 2022 Wimbledon champion.

Paolini will meet in the final four on Thursday with 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who upset second seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

Andreeva thus became the youngest player to reach the final four of a major tournament since Switzerland’s Martina Hingis, at the age of 16, in 1997.

“I tried to keep my cool,” Andreeva said. And I managed to win. »

The Russian is the youngest player to oust a No. 1 or No. 2 ranked opponent at Roland Garros since Monica Seles – like Hingis, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame – at 16 , when she beat Steffi Graf in the final in 1990.

Andreeva is ranked 38th in the world and has yet to win a WTA Tour title. Furthermore, this is only his fifth career Grand Slam tournament.

Sabalenka, for her part, triumphed twice at the Australian Open, notably last January, and she had won her first 23 Grand Slam sets this season before conceding two in a row to Andreeva. The Belarus player was affected by stomach problems and required the intervention of a therapist and doctor numerous times during the match.

For his part, Paolini finished the match with 22 unforced errors, less than half of Rybakina’s total (48). The 28-year-old Italian also had seven breaks against the hitting powerhouse Kazakh, who recorded 10 aces.

“I was a little too emotional in the second round,” said the Italian. Then I was like, “O.K., it’s okay. She’s a great champion, so it can happen. Keep fighting. Hang in there. Try to return every shot.” And yeah, it worked. »

The first round was one-sided in favor of Paolini.

Paolini won the first 15 points on serve, and 16 of the first 17 points overall. She also won 16 of the 32 points when Rybakina was serving.

It continued in the second round. Paolini quickly took a break lead, notably to widen the gap to 4-3. Then, leading 40-15 in the next game, Paolini came within a single point of making it 5-3 and being just one game away from her biggest career victory.

Rybakina, however, pulled herself together, managed the break and dominated the last three games to force a final set.

Paolini did not flinch, and she continued her momentum. She led by a break at 1-0, then 2-1, and came within a single point of taking a 3-1 lead. Rybakina, tough, however, responded by stealing his serve in turn.

Paolini responded one last time to take a 5-4 lead, then sealed the outcome after Rybakina missed her backhand precision.

Like Paolini, with Sara Errani, Coco Gauff officially reached the semi-finals in singles and doubles at Roland Garros.

Andreeva, for her part, withdrew from the women’s doubles draw before her quarter-final match on Wednesday.

Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open singles champion, and playing partner Katerina Siniakova defeated Miyu Kato and Nadiia Kichenok 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles tournament in the morning.

Gauff and Siniakova have yet to concede a set in this tournament, and they will meet in the semi-finals with Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Friday.

This will be Gauff’s third consecutive appearance in the women’s doubles semifinals at Roland Garros, and she still has her sights set on a maiden title. Jessica Pegula was Gauff’s playing partner in 2022 and 2023. She did not compete at the 2024 French Open.

Siniakova, who is originally from the Czech Republic, completed a career Grand Slam in women’s doubles with playing partner Barbora Krejcikova.

Gauff beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur in three sets in the quarterfinals of the singles tournament on Tuesday, and the 20-year-old American will meet world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday.