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 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 Andreeva, whose older sister, 19-year-old Erika, lost to Sabalenka in the first round last week. “But I actually was a little surprised, because you guys also cheered for me.”

On Friday, Andreeva will face another newcomer to this stage: 12th-seeded Jasmine Paolini, a 28-year-old from Italy, who reached her first major semi-final with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over No.4 seed Elena Rybakina, the Wimbledon champion two years ago.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Paolini, who has won two titles in her career, neither on clay courts.

The other match-up involves two players who have far more experience and far greater accomplishments: No.1 Iga Swiatek against No.3 Coco Gauff. Swiatek is seeking her fifth grand slam title and fourth in Paris; Gauff won the US Open last September and was the runner-up to Swiatek at Roland Garros in 2022.

Whoever wins that semi-final is likely to be a big favourite in the final against Andreeva or Paolini.

Had Sabalenka and Rybakina won, this would have been only the second time in the professional era, which began in 1968, that the women seeded 1-4 all advanced to the semi-finals. The other was way back in 1992, when Seles, Graf, Gabriela Sabatini and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario did it.

But Paolini and Andreeva put a stop to that.

Andreeva already had shown plenty of promise, making her way to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open this year. She is precocious on the court and off, and is still refining her game, currently with the help of coach Conchita Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion.

“I kind of see the game. I just play wherever I want. I don’t even have a plan,” Andreeva said with a chuckle. “So when I see an open space on the court, I try to play there. Or if I think that maybe she will run there, I try to play behind her back or something like that. Me and my coach, we had a plan today, but again I didn’t remember anything during the match. I just try to feel as I play and that’s it.”

Paolini exited in the first or second round in each of her first 16 grand slam appearances before making it to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

With Jannik Sinner into the men’s semi-finals, it is the first time an Italian woman and Italian man both have appeared in the final four at the same grand slam tournament in the same year. It’s quite a moment for their country in tennis: On Monday, Sinner will become the first man to be No.1 in the ATP rankings.