Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, 17, celebrates after winning her quarterfinal Wednesday at the French Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Christophe Ena/Associated Press PARIS — 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 on Wednesday to become the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist since Martina Hingis at age 16 in 1997.
“I tried to play brave,” the 38th-ranked 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 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 on Wednesday and often clutched at her midsection, although it was not clear what was wrong. When she broke to end the match with a beautiful lob that Sabalenka didn’t even move to try to get to, Andreeva broke into a wild smile, then covered her face with both hands. “Honestly, I was really nervous before the match.
I knew that she would have an advantage, especially with the crowd,” said Andreev.
