Aryna Sabalenka faces shock defeat in French Open quarterfinals, loses to Mirra Andreeva
Aryna Sabalenka faced an upset in the French Open quarterfinals, facing a three-set defeat to the unseeded Mirra Andreeva.
Aryna Sabalenka became the second seeded player to face an upset on Wednesday at the French Open quarterfinals, as she faced a three-set defeat at the hands of Mirra Andreeva. The Belarusian second seed faced a 7-6, 4-6, 4-6 defeat against Andreeva, setting up a semi-final clash against Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who defeated Elena Rybakina earlier on the day.
![Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after missing a shot against Russia's Mirra Andreeva(AP) Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after missing a shot against Russia's Mirra Andreeva(AP)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.hindustantimes.com/ht-img/img/2024/06/05/550x309/France-Tennis-French-Open-105_1717608294597_1717608327055.jpg)
Having won her last two meetings with Andreeva comfortably, Belarusian Sabalenka wasted little time getting to work as the Australian Open champion cranked up her big shots to go ahead 3-1 before her serve came undone in the opening set.
A suddenly out-of-sorts Sabalenka called the trainer out and had medication for illness after the 17-year-old Andreeva surged to a 5-3 lead and sensed a real opportunity to cause a massive upset on the biggest stage.
But Sabalenka regrouped to force a tiebreak where the 2023 semi-finalist seized the advantage with a stunning drop shot on set-point, but appeared to struggle physically again at the start of the next set.
She got a time violation for taking too long between games as she crouched to her knees to recover at one point, and looked agitated at 4-2 down, eventually allowing her Russian opponent to take the match into a decider.
After an exchange of breaks, the pair were locked in a high-quality battle that thrilled fans on Court Philippe Chatrier but Andreeva held her own and broke Sabalenka in the final game to complete a memorable victory on her second match point.