Trevisan surges past Fernandez to reach French Open semifinals

Martina Trevisan became the first semifinalist of Roland Garros 2022 after defeating No.17 seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 in 2 hours and 21 minutes, booking her place in the last four of a major for the first time.

The Italian bounced back after failing to convert a match point serving at 5-4 in the second set and extend her winning streak to 10 matches. Just over a week ago, 28-year-old Trevisan captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Rabat, upsetting Garbiñe Muguruza along the way.

It is the second straight year in which a WTA 250 tournament the week before Roland Garros has presaged a semifinalist in Paris. Last year, Barbora Krejcikova backed up her own maiden title in Strasbourg with the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.

Roland Garros: Scores | Order of play | Draw

Trevisan's breakthrough tournament came at Roland Garros two years ago, when she reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier ranked No.159. However, she struggled to adjust to the main tour, going 5-20 in WTA main draws between Roland Garros 2020 and Rabat 2022 but keeping her ranking inside the Top 100 with solid performances in WTA 125 and ITF events.

She becomes the third Italian woman to reach the Roland Garros semifinals in the Open Era, following 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone and 2012 finalist Sara Errani.

Keys to the match: This was the first Grand Slam quarterfinal between left-handers since Lucie Safarova beat Ekaterina Makarova at Wimbledon 2014. 

Trevisan's forehand has been the signature shot of her winning streak, and as soon as she had any extra time to set up on it, she was able to pummel it in any direction to end the point. In any given forehand-to-forehand exchange, it was Trevisan's versatility and weight of shot that proved to be the difference. 

Trevisan had 43 winners in the match to Fernandez's 29, while keeping her unforced error tally to 29 compared to Fernandez's 44.

Scoreboard management: After a one-sided opening set, aggressive net-rushing tactics from the Canadian briefly paid dividends at the start of the second. Fernandez went up 3-1, only for Trevisan to find her range with her passing shots to win four of the next five games.

Serving for the match, Trevisan failed to make a first serve, and Fernandez used her own forehand to punish her. A winner from that wing staved off match point, and the 19-year-old committed fewer errors in the ensuing tiebreak to force a third set.

But Trevisan shook off the disappointment and came out firing in the decider. The passage of play in which she surged to a 4-0 lead was perhaps her finest of the match, with almost every forehand finding its mark.

But Fernandez broke Trevisan back twice and delivered her best service hold of the day to cut the deficit from 5-1 to 5-3. Serving for the match for a third time, Trevisan opened with her sixth double fault.

But thereafter, the World No.59's boldness paid off, with a marvellous serve down the T at 30-30 proving crucial. A simple one-two punch sealed her second match point. 

Trevisan on rebounding from the second set: "I looked around me and I was in the most important court in the world. Even [if] I felt a lot of tension and I was so nervous because even my arms felt it, I was happy anyway.

"I accepted the situation, because, as I say, it was normal to feel the tension because I was playing for my semifinal, and I was in the match point. So I accepted the situation and I tried to be focused on every point. That was, I think, the most important things that I did today."