Having “kicked my a**e” a month ago, Mirra Andreeva did not fancy her chances against Aryna Sabalenka.
But the 17-year-old will on Thursday become the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 27 years when she takes on Jasmine Paolini at the French Open.
For Andreeva, the quarter-final was a repeat of her meeting with the Belarusian at last month’s Madrid Open, where she won just five games.
In the biggest match of her career on Philippe-Chatrier, she overcame the No2 seed, who appeared to be struggling with a stomach issue during the match, to win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.
“I was very nervous before the match, as it’s the first time for me when I’m playing on a big court,” said the Russian teen.
“So, I kind of expected the crowd will be cheering for her and she will have a little advantage mental-wise and game-wise, because she kicked my a**e before when we played.
“I just tried to focus on myself and play point by point, I tried not to really think about the score and just tried to take revenge.”
Andreeva blotted out the importance of the points by imagining her second match point was merely a break point, winning the match with a stunning lob.
“I even forgot what was the score because I really try not to focus on that,” she explained. “And when it was the second match point for me, I was trying to imagine that I’m saving a break point. So, I tried to play brave and I managed to win.”
Prior to the match, her coach, the former player Conchita Martinez, gave her a plan how to unpick her far more experienced opponent, which she forgot the moment she stepped out on court, instead playing by instinct.
“We have a plan for the match, but I forget everything,” she said. “When I play a match, I don’t have any thoughts in my head. So, maybe I would say my strength could be that I just play how I want to play.
“I do whatever I want, and maybe this helps me when I play. But I have a lot of decisions in my mind. When I change them in the last moment, some kind of crap always happens.”
Andreeva has been a breath of fresh since her emergence on the WTA Tour last year. And in the final moments of her Roland Garros quarter-final, she took time out to scoop up a good-luck charm from the court.
“In the last game, I think you saw me picking up something from the floor,” she said. “I saw a ladybug, and I was like, ‘That can be a chance for me’.
“But I really tried not to think about that. I tried to stay aggressive and keep playing my game, and maybe the ladybug helped me a little bit today.”
