The 17-year-old Russian edged out world number two Sabalenka 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4 in two hours and 29 brutal minutes. She will face another surprise semi-finalist, Jasmine Paolini, who stunned fourth seed Elena Rybakina on a day of shocks in Paris. Sabalenka, the second seed, was clearly unwell and looked on the brink of retiring early in the first set.
The Belarusian was grimacing, holding her stomach and bending over in pain throughout the match. Sabalenka was in such a bad way that she was still in medical care three hours after the match had finished. But that was to take nothing away from the quality of Andreeva as she progressed to her first grand slam semi-final.
“Honestly I even forgot the score,” she said. “I really tried not to focus and on my second match point I was trying to imagine saving a break point. I tried to stay brave and I managed to win.
“I was really nervous before the match, I knew she would have the crowd but I was a little surprised you guys cheered for me.” Andreeva vowed to take the same level of performance and ruthlessness into Friday’s last-four clash with Paolini. “I played her in Madrid, it was a really tough match,” added Andreeva.
“She plays really fast and goes for it no matter what the score is. “I think it will be a little bit like today and I will try to play with the same level and the same cold head.” Paolini, who until this year had never progressed beyond the second round at a grand slam, won a see-saw match against.
