With Wednesday’s upset of defending champion Iga Swiatek, this is the first time in the Open Era to have four first-time Major singles semifinalists at the French Open. There are no top 16 seeds remaining, with the average ranking of the final four equaling No.42. But let’s be clear: all four definitively earned their spots at this stage, and one will become a first-time Major singles champion.
Also on Thursday, the mixed doubles championship match, as well as the men’s doubles semifinals.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) vs. Tamara Zidansek – Not before 3:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
After 11 failed attempts at surpassing the quarterfinal round at a Slam in both singles and doubles, Pavlyuchenkova has finally broken through. She’s spoken openly on re-evaluating her career at the age of 29, realizing it is closer to its end than its beginning, and wanting to reach new heights before retiring. For Zidansek, this semifinal run has come out of nowhere. Before this fortnight, the 23-year-old was ranked 85th in the world, and had never advanced beyond the second round of a Major. And Tamara was only 1-5 at WTA 1000 events. She’s spoken openly of developing her mental game, and studying psychology through a WTA learning program, has helped her game.
This is not only the first Major semi for both, it’s also their first career meeting. Both are coming off extended third-set victories: Pavlyuchenkova 9-7 over Elena Rybakinda, and Zidansek 8-6 over Paula Badosa. In the victory over Badosa, she struck an astounding 39 winners off the forehand side alone. If she can play as freely and aggressively again on Thursday, I like her chances. Over the past few years, Roland Garros has seen several surprising finalists. Neither of these players were atop any list of favorites heading into this tournament. But at an event that seems to facilitate surprises in women’s singles, I’m going with Zidansek to be this year’s big shocker. Unlike Anastasia, Tamara may not fully realize just how elusive an opportunity like this can be.
Maria Sakkari (17) vs. Barbora Krejcikova – Immediately following the first women’s semifinal on Court Philippe-Chatrier
In her second Major quarterfinal on Wednesday, Sakkari played spectacularly. She took out Iga Swiatek in straight sets, when no other player had taken even one set off Iga at this tournament since 2019. As Tennis Abstract’s Jeff Sackman highlighted on Twitter, that was the 17th consecutive match in which Sakkari claimed at least one set. The last player against which she failed to do so was her opponent today, who defeated her in straight sets in the opening round of Dubai, their only previous tour-level encounter.
Krejcikova reached the fourth round here a year ago, but outside of that, was just 2-4 at Slams in singles coming into this event. But she’s been rising quickly at WTA events, with 23-8 record this season, and a current 10-match streak, dating back her title run two weeks ago in Strasbourg. Barbora is likely relieved to not be facing Swiatek today, who already defeated her twice this year. Krejcikova has already overcome three seeded players, as well as 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
So will it be Sakkari or Krejcikova who is most ready to earn the biggest win of her career to date for a second straight day? Sakkari certainly pulled off the bigger upset on Wednesday, so a letdown would only be normal. However, she’s a confident, gritty fighter who I don’t think will allow this moment to overwhelm her. Krejcikova has shared how nervous she’s felt before matches, though that hasn’t seemed to effect her play. But after watching the assertive way in which Sakkari has dismissed three consecutive top 20 seeds, she should be favored to advance to Saturday’s championship match.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Desirae Krawczyk and Joe Salisbury vs. Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev – American Krawczyk was a women’s doubles finalist here last October, while her British partner won men’s doubles at last year’s Australian Open with another American, Rajeev Ram. Vesnina is a three-time Major champion in women’s doubles, and a one-time champ in mixed. This is the first Slam final in any discipline for her fellow Russian, Karatsev, who was the breakout singles player this year in Melbourne.
Pablo Andujar and Pedro Martinez vs. Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev – The Spaniards were 2-2 as a team prior to this event, while the partnership from Kazakhstan was just 4-3. None of these four men have ever appeared in the final of a Grand Slam event.
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (2) vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut – It’s two-time Major champions from Columbia against four-time Major champions from France. When these teams met earlier this season in Barcelona, Cabal and Farah prevailed 6-2, 6-4.
Thursday’s full schedule is here.
