Andreeva, 17, ousts Sabalenka, Paolini upsets Rybakina at French Open

June 5 (UPI) -- Italian Jasmine Paolini and Russian Mirra Andreeva each reached the 2024 French Open semifinals with respective major upsets of Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday in Paris.

Paolini, ranked No. 15, was the first to secure her ticket, eliminating Rybakina with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 triumph on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Rybakina held edges of 10-1 in aces and 35-22 in winners, but committed 48 unforced errors compared to 22 for Paolini.

"It was a really tough match -- I think I was a little too emotional in the first set," Paolini said on the Tennis Channel broadcast. "But then I said to myself, 'OK, it's good, she's a great champion, so it can happen, you know? Just fight, try to keep it there, try to hit every ball.' And it worked, I'm here, I won!

Paolini will meet will meet Andreeva in the semifinals. Andreeva, 17, became the youngest Grand Slam semifinalist since Martina Hingis, who advanced to the 1997 U.S. Open semifinals at 16.

Andreeva, ranked No. 38, totaled four aces, converted 8 of 14 break points and logged 43 winners in her 6(5)-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The second-ranked Sabalenka totaled three aces and converted 6 of 6 break points. She also totaled 41 unforced errors, compared to Andreeva's 26.

The winner of the Andreeva-Paolini match will face No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland or No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States on Saturday in the women's singles final.

Gauff and Swiatek will meet in the other semifinal Thursday at Roland Garros.

On the men's singles circuit, No. 7 Casper Ruud of Norway advanced via walkover because of No. 1 Novak Djokovic's withdrawal. No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany will meet No. 11 Alex de Minaur of Australia in another men's quarterfinal Wednesday. The men's semifinals will be played Friday.