Argentina caused quite a stir on the red clay of Roland Garros, with qualifier Nadia Podoroska and 12th seed Diego Schwartzman ending the runs of third seeds Elina Svitolina and Dominic Thiem, in their respective draws.
Podoroska became the first qualifier to reach the French Open semi-finals in the women’s singles draw when she downed Ukrainian Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
Later, Schwartzman entered his maiden Grand Slam semi-final after thwarting Thiem’s attempt at consecutive majors in a marathon five setter, winning 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6(5), 6-3.
Podoroska, the world No.131, on her second appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam, emulated Belgium’s Filip Dewulf — the only qualifier in either of the singles draws since tennis turned professional in 1968 to make it to the last four at Roland Garros, in 1997.
“It’s a little bit difficult for me to speak after the match. Thank you everybody for your support, I’m very very happy,” Podoroska said on court Philippe Chatrier.
Svitolina, one of the pre-tournament favourites after winning the Strasbourg International last month, was on the back foot throughout, failing at the last-eight stage for the third time at the claycourt Grand Slam.
Unseeded Danielle Collins battled past Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter finals here for the first time in her career.
World No. 57 Collins raised her level after the opening nine games of the first set went with serve. The American broke to edge ahead in the contest as Jabeur made an unforced error from the back of the court.
“I felt I was in charge until 6-4 3-0... she’s tricky, served really well and hit some drop shots I wasn’t expecting,” Collins said. She takes on Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin next, after the fourth-seeded American beat Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Schwartzman’s third victory over Thiem ensured he became the 10th Argentinian man to advance to the semi-finals at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.
“Dominic is one of the best players right now in the world... we are friends. I have a lot of respect for him,” Schwartzman said. “That’s why winning this match is very important to me.”
German wildcard Daniel Altmaier’s run here was ended by Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta as the 17th seed claimed a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 victory.
His reward is a clash with top seed Novak Djokovic, in a repeat of their US Open fourth-round match, when the Serbian world No.1 was defaulted for inadvertently hitting a line judge with a ball.