Major upsets rock Roland Garros

PARIS, June 5

The script was ripped up at Roland Garros today as ailing second seed Aryna Sabalenka and off-colour fourth seed Elena Rybakina were sent tumbling out in the quarterfinals.

Hampered by illness throughout her match, Sabalenka crashed to a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 defeat to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva as the Australian Open champion’s 11-match Grand Slam winning streak ground to a halt on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 26-year-old barely looked like she could continue but soldiered on as fans on the main showcourt got behind her, but Andreeva took full advantage and reached her maiden Major semifinal, becoming the youngest in the last-four at a Grand Slam since Martina Hingis in 1997.

Andreeva’s refreshingly fearless strokeplay has caught the eye at Roland Garros and she paid tribute to her coach Conchita Martinez, although she admitted it was hard to keep track of all her instructions. Andreeva’s opponent in the next round could have been Rybakina but the Russian-born Kazakh failed to find a way past Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who battled hard to secure a 6-2 4-6 6-4 win.

Bopanna sails into semis

The second-seeded Indian-Australian duo of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden sailed into the men’s doubles semifinals with a 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1 victory over Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. — Agencies