Outsider Zidansek into semis

World number 85 Tamara Zidansek became the first woman from Slovenia to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam at the French Open on Tuesday.

The unheralded Zidansek advanced 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 against Spain's Paula Badosa and will play Kazakh 21st seed Elena Rybakina or 31st-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia for a place in Saturday's final.

"I'm really, really happy to be in the semi-finals," said Zidansek, who had never gone beyond the second round of a Slam before this year's Roland Garros.

Zidansek recovered from 3-0 and a double break down in the first set and then saved three break points at 6-6 in the decider against Badosa, the 33rd seed with the most clay court wins (17) on the WTA tour this season.

The Slovene took her second match point to continue her breakout performance. She is two wins away from emulating Maribor-born Mima Jausovec, who won Roland Garros in 1977 while representing Yugoslavia.

World number 22 Rybakina, who denied Serena Williams in her latest bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title, is the highest-ranked player left in her half of the draw.

The 21-year-old made the final at four of her first five events in 2020, but her momentum was then stalled by the Covid-19 shutdown.

Born in Russia, but representing Kazakhstan, Rybakina has advanced here without losing a set. She next meets doubles partner Pavlyuchenkova, back in the French Open quarter-finals for the first time since 2011.

"The end goal is always to win the tournaments and dream and go of course to win the Grand Slam," said Rybakina.

"So every time I step in on court I try not to think against who I play. Just try to do my work, follow the plan which we have. If it works well, I'm winning, and if it's not, I'm just learning."