Key events
For the 22-year-old Shnaider, the 25th seed and Andreeva’s doubles partner, she’s been ranked around the world’s top 20 for the past couple of years but hasn’t been able to really announce herself at the biggest tournaments. Until now. And she goes into her first slam semi-final in the very strange position of being the favourite. Her greater firepower should see her through here, but Chwalinska’s craftiness can undoubtedly cause her problems. The way she ripped through Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys 6-0 in the deciding sets in her past two matches suggests she’ll be able to stay on top of her nerves.
The 24-year-old qualifier Chwalinska had won only two tour-level matches on clay and one grand slam match (at Wimbledon in 2022) before this tournament, which is only her third major, having taken an indefinite break from tennis five years ago because of depression. She has said she associated the sport with “pressure, stress and crying” but now has a more balanced approach: “The results don’t define me as much as they did before. I just couldn’t differentiate Maja and tennis player. I was just one.”
Maja Chwalinska and Diana Shnaider are waiting in the wings. Chwalinska is the first to be announced to the Chatrier crowd, and now here comes Sabalenka sorry Shnaider; the biggest moment of both of their careers. This battle of the first-time grand slam semi-finalists sums up the sheer craziness of this year’s Roland Garros.
That was hugely impressive from Andreeva, who showed maturity beyond her years to deal with the magnitude of the match, with her level hardly fluctuating from start to finish. She dominated on serve and from the baseline, and it’ll bring her immense satisfaction that she did so against a player who beat her in the Madrid final only a month ago. For Kostyuk, her 17-match winning run is over. With all that is going on in her homeland, she’ll be able to put this defeat into perspective, but equally it’ll hurt so much: she wanted to do this to deliver hope and joy to Ukraine.
“I’m super happy with the way I played,” Andreeva says with such giddy, infectious excitement. “I’m also happy I got my revenge from the Madrid final, then I’m happy I’m in my first grand slam final. All of these feelings combined, it’s amazing, I’ve never felt anything like this before.” Marion Bartoli then askes her what she and Martinez will be plotting for the final against Diana Shnaider (Andreeva’s longtime doubles partner) or Maja Chwalinska. “Keep it the same, don’t change anything,” she replies. “We’re going to prepare our best. I’m nervous, but at the same time, I’m very, very excited.” She knows she’s the favourite and that the title is there for the taking.
Andreeva beats Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3!
Andreeva, serving for a place in her first grand slam final, takes the first point with a foray to the net. Her coach, the former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, stands up and applauds. Martinez’s charge is three points away. Make that two, because it’s 30-0. Kostyuk provides some resistance with a backhand pass, but it turns out to be futile as Andreeva’s forehand drops just in to set up two match points and then Kostyuk goes long! At 19 years of age, Andreeva is into her first slam final – something that has been expected of her since the prodigy announced herself by reaching the last four in Paris two years ago – and Kostyuk’s emotional run is over. There’s no handshake between the two, as is normal between Ukrainian and Russian players.
Andreeva breaks: Kostyuk 1-6, 3-5 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
But no sooner does Kostyuk break, than she’s in danger of being broken. 0-30. Then at 15-30, she goes for broke with a cross-court forehand, but blazes wide. She smiles wryly. Andreeva has two break points but only one is needed, as Andreeva does what Kostyuk couldn’t on the previous point by landing a forehand winner! Andreeva is a game away.
Kostyuk breaks: Kostyuk* 1-6, 3-4 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
Jannik Sinner, remember, was two sets and 5-1 up in the second round before losing, and Aryna Sabalenka was a set and a double break ahead yesterday before self-imploding, so we shouldn’t assume this is over. Kostyuk certainly doesn’t, as she rips through Andreeva’s serve from 0-15, 0-30 to 0-40, the highlight a 26-shot rally, the longest of the semi-final so far, which has just about everything before Kostyuk settles matters with a cute drop shot! Finally she’s thinking clearly. And Kostyuk breaks for the first time to get this second set back on serve!
Second set: Kostyuk 1-6, 2-4 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
Yet another break chance for Andreeva as 30-40. Take this and the Russian will be serving for a place in the final. But Andreeva hoiks a forehand wide on the break point … and Kostyuk charges through the next three points to hold! At least she’s asking a question of Andreeva, but is it too late?
Second set: Kostyuk* 1-6, 1-4 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
Kostyuk, buoyed by winning the previous game, works her way to 15-30. But Andreeva isn’t having any of it. 30-all, 40-30, game. The 19-year-old roars, perhaps as much to silence the crowd as celebrate the game. And the roof is being closed because of an imminent threat of rain, just to add to the drama. But it’s questionable whether this match will still be going by the time it’s shut. Andreeva is two games away.
Second set: Kostyuk 1-6, 1-3 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
More looks of despair and desperation from Kostyuk as Andreeva takes her to deuce. Kostyuk could do with landing some more first serves here; her first-serve percentage is down at 48%. And on her third advantage, Kostyuk takes the game! The crowd are roaring; how much of that is because she’s the underdog and how much of that is because of what she’s going through as a Ukrainian is unclear. But Andreeva did fall apart in the face of some partisan Parisian support for Lois Boisson in the quarter-finals last year, so if Kostyuk can build on this game, and the crowd continue to get behind her, Andreeva may start to struggle.
Second set: Kostyuk* 1-6, 0-3 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
A quick hold to 15 from Andreeva, who, it has to be said, has the look of a player who knows this title is hers for the taking. And with Diana Shnaider or Maja Chwalinska playing the other semi-final, this feels like the de facto final. “There’s been no let down, not even two or three points in a row,” enthuses Evert of Andreeva’s performance.
Andreeva breaks: Kostyuk 1-6, 0-2 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
Chris Evert, on TNT Sports, is advising Kostyuk to just “keep it simple” in order to hold serve. But Kostyuk, with all the emotion of the occasion and the conditions and what she’s playing for and her quarter-final win over fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and the recent Russian missile attack near her home in Kyiv, doesn’t listen as she nets. 15-30. 30-40. And Andreeva pulls off possibly the shot of the match as she nails a HUGE backhand down the line. Andreeva is playing so smartly here, using greater height and margins to combat the wind, then unleashing when the opportunity allows.
Second set: Kostyuk* 1-6, 0-1 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
One of the biggest crowd reactions of the afternoon as Kostyuk drags herself to deuce on Andreeva’s serve. The Ukrainian is now fist-pumping and screaming as she secures a break point at her advantage. Prowling well inside the baseline for the second serve, Kostyuk gets the serve back … but then goes for too much, too soon and nets. She needed to show more patience there; blame the adrenaline of a first grand slam semi-final for that. And from deuce Andreeva holds.
Andreeva wins the first set 6-1
Kostyuk, now serving to stay in the first set, is blown off course once again at 30-all, and Andreeva has her first set point. The crowd sigh; they want a contest. They’re a little more hopeful when Andreeva nets her backhand, but from deuce Andreeva secures a second set point, steps in for the second serve … hits hard and deep at Kostyuk … whose feet don’t adjust quickly enough, as she slaps into the net to concede the set. After all the anticipation, this match has been something of an anti-climax so far. Not that Andreeva will care at all; she’s a set away from her first grand slam final.
First set: Kostyuk* 1-5 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
A 13th unforced error from Kostyuk and Andreeva leads 30-0 on serve. Make that 40-0. And jeu. Kostyuk has been a joy to watch on clay this year, her unbeaten run including wins over Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina this tournament, and over Andreeva and Jessica Pegula in Madrid, but the occasion is getting to her. And undoubtedly the wind too, with Andreeva playing with a little more margin for error.
First set: Kostyuk 1-4 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
0-15. 0-30. This first set is running away from Kostyuk horribly quickly; they’ve been playing for only 18 minutes. Anyone would think it’s Andreeva who’s on the 17-match winning run. Kostyuk takes the next point for 15-30, but after a lung-busting exchange that leaves Kostyuk gasping for air, Andreeva lands the ball bang on the baseline! 15-40. A one-two punch gets Kostyuk out of trouble on the first break point, a big serve saves the second, and also a third at Andreeva’s advantage. This first set could perhaps already be beyond Kostyuk, but she really needs this game to gain a footing in the match. But here’s a fourth break point and now a fifth … and Kostyuk shows tremendous resolve to repel them all and eventually hold when Andreeva hits long! That game took nearly as long as the rest of the match combined. Kostyuk is finally up and running.
First set: Kostyuk* 0-4 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
At 30-all, an unreturned serve gives Andreeva game point. A long rally plays out … Andreeva throws in a moon ball … and Kostyuk dismissively pulls off a winning drop shot! Deuce. Can Kostyuk finally get on the board? No, because Andreeva, on her second advantage, pummels a forehand deep to Kostyuk’s right, and Kostyuk can only frame the ball into the stands. This is turning into a very different story to Madrid.
Andreeva breaks: Kostyuk 0-3 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
The best point of the match so far as Andreeva drop shots and lobs and drop shots and lobs Kostyuk into submission. 15-all on Kostyuk’s serve, which develops into 15-30. Andreeva has the greater court craft, she’s got such impressive variety and a smart brain; she’s Martina Hingis-like in that respect. But she has more power than the Swiss did – and illustrates that with a big, big backhand. It’s 15-40 – and while Andreeva doesn’t take the first break point, she does the second with a forehand winner. And there’s the double break.
First set: Kostyuk* 0-2 Andreeva (*denotes next server)
Better from Kostyuk as she gobbles up an Andreeva second serve for 0-15, and now it’s Andreeva’s turn to double fault. Clearly it’s contagious. Another error from Andreeva and it’s 0-40, three break points. But Kostyuk coughs up two forehand errors and it’s 3-40. So only one break point left, and against Kostyuk makes a mess of her forehand. She’s up to seven unforced errors; this is very messy. And from deuce, Andreeva squeezes through to consolidate the break.
Andreeva breaks: Kostyuk 0-1 Andreeva* (*denotes next server)
Kostyuk, serving first, moves to 30-15, before the umpire is already slapping down the noisy crowd. Andreeva comes back for 30-all, and then an edgy double fault from Kostyuk gift wraps an early break point to Andreeva. And Kostyuk clunks into the net. Now the crowd are silent. That was a nervy, nervy start from the Ukrainian.
In their Madrid Open final last month, Kostyuk defeated Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 to claim the biggest title of her career. She dictated most of the points, so it’ll be interesting to see if the more defensively inclined Andreeva changes her tactics here. Andreeva has the greater experience at the business end of slams, despite being four years younger than her opponent, but because of Kostyuk’s power I make her the slight favourite. But this could – as tennis so often does – come down to who controls their emotions better.
Here Kostyuk and Andreeva come. Kostyuk has a huge smile as she waves to the Philippe Chatrier crowd; Andreeva looks a little more steely. Cue a huge gust of wind. It of course caused havoc yesterday, and is ominously even stronger today. So it’s not only a question of how well they handle the occasion, but how well they deal with the conditions. Sabalenka self-imploded in them yesterday.
SHE’S BACK!
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Already today, before tomorrow’s all-Italian men’s semi-final between Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi, there’s been victory for their compatriots Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the top seeds, in the mixed doubles final, 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 against the Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and the American Evan King.
And congratulations to Britain’s Henry Patten who, along with his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara, is into his first French Open men’s doubles final. The 2024 Wimbledon and 2025 Australian Open champs defeated the home pair Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-4.
Preamble
Salut! At the start of the tournament we were wondering how we’d cope without ‘just’ Carlos Alcaraz. But then Jannik Sinner departed and Novak Djokovic too, and then Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff along with nearly all of the men’s and women’s top ten, and it’s still been joyeux and amusant and incroyable. And after Aryna Sabalenka snatched defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday, guaranteeing two first-time grand slam champions this weekend, there’s a wonderfully exciting sense of the unknown and the feeling that anything could happen on women’s semi-finals day – but it’s also impossible to ignore the shadow that Russia’s war in Ukraine has cast over the draw.
No one has felt that shadow more painfully this fortnight than Marta Kostyuk, who found out hours before her first-round match that a missile had struck close to her family home in Kyiv. Aged 23, it has taken Kostyuk time as a player to piece her rich talents together. Now, fuelled by the knowledge she represents something so much bigger than herself while simultaneously being able to put tennis into perspective, she’s on a 17-match winning run on clay and is playing with the belief she belongs at the top – but in Russia’s Mirra Andreeva she faces the highest-ranked player left who was already being ordained as a future slam champion when she burst into the semi-finals as a precocious 17-year-old in 2024.
Kostyuk did manage to defeat Andreeva in the Madrid Open final a month ago – and if she can pull off victory on an even bigger stage to become the first Ukrainian woman to reach a major final, she could face another Russian, Diana Shnaider, on Saturday. Shnaider, having stayed so impressively calm in the eye of Sabalenka’s storm yesterday, plays fellow slam semi-final debutant Maja Chwalinska, the Polish qualifier who is enjoying the run of her life but who, like Kostyuk, is very aware there are bigger challenges in life than sport, having taken an indefinite break from tennis five years ago because of depression. The promise of two absorbing semi-finals is why we’re here today, but these matches are about so much more.
L’action commence: à 15h (2pm BST). Allons-y!
