Mirra Andreeva, an unseeded 17-year-old from Russia, surprised No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 at the French Open today to become the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist since Martina Hingis at age 16 in 1997.
“I tried to play brave,” Andreeva said. “And I managed to win.”
She is also the youngest player to eliminate someone ranked No. 1 or 2 at Roland Garros since Monica Seles — like Hingis, now a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame — was 16 when she beat Steffi Graf in the 1990 final.
Andreeva is ranked 38th but has yet to win a tour-level title of any sort and is competing in only her fifth Slam tournament.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, is a two-time champion at the Australian Open, including in January, and had won the first 23 Grand Slam sets she played in 2024 until dropping two in a row against Andreeva. Sabalenka was visited multiple times by a trainer and doctor and often clutched at her midsection, although it was not clear what was wrong.
