Podoroska flying the flag for Argentina in Paris: 'A dream come true'

PARIS, France - For the first time in nearly a decade, an Argentinian woman will feature in the fourth round of the French Open thanks to the efforts of World No.131 Nadia Podoroska over the past two weeks.

A career-best Grand Slam result is the latest milestone in a meteoric rise for the 23-year-old from Rosario over the past two years, in which she's skyrocketed from outside the Top 300 to her current perch: a ranking that's now projected to rise into the Top 100 for the first time following the clay-court Grand Slam.

Last summer, the Argentine won the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, all but assuring herself a place at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 provided she maintains a ranking within the Top 300, and the form that took her to a pair of titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour last year continued well into 2020. 

Ranked World No.255 in January, Podoroska started the season on a 14-match winning streak with two more ITF trophies, and upon the tour's resumption in August, proved she was not slowed down by the nearly six-month hiatus as a result of COVID-19.

After qualifying for the main draw at the Palermo Ladies' Open, where she was beaten by eventual champion Fiona Ferro, Podoroska later reached the semifinals of the WTA 125K Series event in Prague and won the ITF $60,000 event in Saint-Malo, France during the week prior to Roland Garros qualifying.

Including ITF, Fed Cup and qualifying matches, Podoroska now boasts a sparkling 41-6 win-loss record this season after six further victories on the terre battue.

"It's like a dream come true. I's been an amazing tournament for me. I didn't expect this result, so I'm very happy," Podoroska said after beating Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets in Paris on Friday.

"It's nice to be here in the big tournaments. It's what we always want, where we always want to be. It's been a special week but I am playing tennis, so it's same here or in another tournament. 

"During the last few months, I felt more sure about my game. During the quarantine, I improved a lot. I spent time with my coaches training for three months, and I knew that I have been improving my game.

"Fortunately, I did that on the tournaments, so I think it's a process."

Podoroska is the first Argentinian woman to reach the fourth round at the French Open since Gisela Dulko in 2011, and was one of two qualifiers on Friday to reach the round of 16 in addition to Italy's Martina Trevisan. 

The opportunity to play for a Grand Slam against quarterfinal berth against World No.117 Barbora Krejcikova is thus not lost on the 23-year-old right-hander, who last contested a Grand Slam main draw at the US Open four years ago.

Read more: Krejcikova dedicates win to Jana Novotna: 'She would be really happy'

"When I was in US Open in 2016, I think I was very young. I didn't know what I could do. Now I'm older and I'm with more confidence," Podoroska said after beating No.27 seed Yulia Putintseva in Wednesday's second round for her first career victory over a Top 50 player.

"I think I have a lot of confidence now, but the better thing I'm doing is trusting in my game, in all that I have been training. I'm very -- not relaxed, but calm, calm on court. That's the best thing I'm doing, I think."

A qualifier has reached the last eight in Paris nine times, a result most recently achieved by Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova in 2012. No qualifier has ever reached the semifinals at the Parisian major, but if Podoroska keep her magical run going with two more victories, she will have the opportunity to match an achievement by her country's greatest WTA player: Gabriela Sabatini.

The Hall of Famer reached the semifinals of the French Open in her main-draw debut at the event in 1985, and her young compatriot aptly revealed that the WTA Legend has always been a source of inspiration.

"I started to play tennis when I was five years old, but it was just because I want to play tennis. No one in my family played," Podoroska said.

"When I was a child, I saw the legends in Argentina. We have too many players when I was growing up, and we always have Gabriela Sabatini. She was like a hero for me and for all female tennis.

"She's always in contact with all the female players in Argentina, even with the Fed Cup team, but she's always giving her support."

After dropping just 14 games in the three preliminary rounds, the joint-fewest of the 12 qualifiers, the in-form Argentine has lost just one set in the tournament so far while she continues to take it all in.

"I knew that I was playing really good, but for sure this experience all new for me," she said. "You never know how you are going to react. But I'm happy with what I'm doing."