Nadia Podoroska made French Open history with a shock defeat of third seed Elina Svitolina in their quarter-final clash on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old from Argentina, playing at Roland Garros for the first time, became the first qualifier to reach the women's singles semi-finals.
It has been a tournament full of upsets, but Podoroska pulled off the biggest of the lot, stunning the Ukrainian world No5 6-2 6-4.
Podoroska's run in Paris – eight matches and counting including qualifying – is all the more remarkable given that she had never previously won a Grand Slam match, and has never even claimed back-to-back wins on the WTA Tour.
Moreover, the world No131 had never played a top-20 player before, let alone beaten one.
But Podoroska looked right at home on her first appearance on Court Philippe-Chatrier, racing through the first set with 17 winners to the unsettled Svitolina's two.
Svitolina finally held serve at the start of the second and then forged a break ahead, but Podoroska immediately wiped that out with a stunning drop shot.
Break after break followed until Podoroska held for 5-4 and then converted a third match point with a forehand winner before hurling her racket in the air in jubilation.
Podoroska said: "It's a little bit difficult for me to speak. Thank you everybody for your support, I'm very happy."
PA
