Maria Sakkari stunned defending champion Iga Swiatek 6-4 6-4 to reach her first grand slam semi-final.
The Greek was too solid and too accurate for an out-of-sorts Swiatek as she sealed one of the biggest wins of her career.
Tomorrow Sakkari will now face Barbora Krejcikova who beat Coco Gauff earlier 7-6(6) 6-3.
In the first set it was the defending champion who was quickest to settle down as she took advantage of some early nerves from the Greek.
After breaking for 2-0, Swiatek made a few unforced errors herself as Sakkari broke back and held in a very tight game to make it 2-2.
In the next game, Swiatek saved a few break points and did well to mix up the play as she secured an important hold.
A very tentative match was being played by both players as it was mainly about who could minimise the amount of unforced errors.
In the end it was Swiatek’s forehand which would falter the most in the latter stages of the set as the Greek broke for a 5-4 lead as she was pumped up for this match.
Eventually after saving break point, some accurate and clutch serving saw Sakkari dig herself out of a hole and take the first set 6-4.
Following that set was a massive roar from Sakkari as she had just ended the Pole’s 22 consecutive set win streak at Roland Garros.
The 17th seed had momentum on her side as she started the second set by piling the pressure on Swiatek’s erratic forehand.
Quickly a 2-0 lead was established with the Pole making a weird and sluggish start with lots of slow and loopy balls being produced.
It was clear to see after that the reason for the slow start as Swiatek called for a trainer on an upper leg issue. An off-court medical time-out occurred as the defending champion was in need of some inspiration.
Swiatek came back playing much more aggressive tennis, shortening the points up and trying to avoid any long rallies to prevent any further damage to her leg.
As for the Greek she continued to produce some fiery attacking shots mixed with some accurate serving as she didn’t seemed phased by her opponent’s injury at all.
Although Swiatek produced some effective and efficient patterns of play on serve, her return game was erratic and couldn’t find a way past the Greek.
In the end Sakkari remained ice-cool under pressure and kept holding serve to claim one of the biggest wins of her career.
For Swiatek it’s a bitterly disappointing end to her Roland Garros title defence and will be seen as a missed opportunity to defend her title.
However Maria Sakkari moves onto her first grand slam semi-final tomorrow where she will face Barbora Krejcikova.
