In 56 minutes, Andreeva moves into second Grand Slam semifinal with win over Cirstea

Two years after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros, Mirra Andreeva is back in the final four of a major for just the second time in her career -- and once again it has come in Paris.

Facing 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea in a matchup that marked the largest age gap in a women's singles Grand Slam quarterfinal since Martina Navratilova and Jennifer Capriati met in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 1991, Andreeva delivered a dominant performance. She needed just 56 minutes to cruise past Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 and book a semifinal against No. 15 seed Marta Kostyuk.

"I'm super happy that I'm going to be playing in semis again." Andreeva said after her win. "Super happy with how I was playing today. I felt like it was one of my best matches so far this tournament. Super happy to be back in semis. It was a great match with Sorana. So I'm just super happy about the win today."

Playing with the roof closed on Court Philippe Chatrier, Andreeva was quick out of the blocks. She lost only nine points in the opening six games and did not allow Cirstea a game point or break point as she wrapped up the first set 6-0.

"I honestly didn't expect that myself," she said. "Let's start with me having an amazing warmup before the match on the court. I felt like I didn't miss one ball during the warmup, so I kind of got a little bit nervous after that, because usually when you have an amazing warmup, you don't play the same way during the match. But, I don't know, I just found myself being very, very focused, very aggressive, going for my shots all the time. I don't know what happened, but I was just, like, in the zone, I guess. Sorana is, as I said, a very tough opponent to play against, so I'm just happy about the win today."

The Romanian veteran, playing in only her second Grand Slam quarterfinal, finally got on the scoreboard in the opening game of the second set. The pair traded breaks to remain level at 3-3, but from there Andreeva raised her level again, dropping only two points over the next three games before closing out the 6-0, 6-3 victory. This marked her second win over Cirstea in as many career meetings.

Andreeva's dominance was reflected in the stats. She struck 18 winners and committed 17 unforced errors, compared with four winners and 17 unforced errors for Cirstea. Andreeva forced 20 errors from her opponent while making only six of her own. The 19-year-old also converted all six break points she earned.

The victory was Andreeva's 34th match win of the season, including team events, the most by any player in 2026. Svitolina can match that total if she wins her quarterfinal later Tuesday. It also marked Andreeva's tour-leading 20th clay-court win of the season.

Andreeva is 0-2 against Kostyuk, with both defeats coming in 2026.

"I've played against both of them already this year, so I kind of know what to expect," Andreeva said before Kostyuk's three-set win over Elina Svitolina. "I kind of know what game styles they have as well. I feel like no matter who wins, it's going to be a very tough match. Obviously, there are no easy opponents, especially when you're going to be playing the semifinal of a Grand Slam. Whoever wins, I think we're just going to try to prepare my best. I'm just going to try to do everything I can on the court, fight, and we'll see."