French Open: Trevisan racks up 10th straight win to make Italy proud

Trevisan reached her maiden grand slam semi-final by overcoming last year’s US Open runner-up 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old was made to work by 19-year-old world number 18 Fernandez, but got past the previous best she had managed in a major, having reached the quarters at Roland Garros in 2020, losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

Another teenager awaits in the last four, with Coco Gauff having come out on top in an all-American contest with Sloane Stephens. She is the fifth female player to reach the semi-finals at the French Open before turning 19 since the turn of the century.

Trevisan heads into that tie on the back of becoming the first Italian player to win 10 matches in a row since Flavia Pennetta in 2009, who won 15 consecutive games across titles in Palermo and Los Angeles before reaching the quarter-finals at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

The world number 59 – who will shoot up the WTA rankings after her run in Paris – triumphed in Rabat before heading to Roland Garros, her first Tour-level singles title.

Trevisan is only the 12th left-handed female to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros in the Open Era, while her match with Fernandez was the first all left-handed quarter-final in the major since 1981.

She had multiple opportunities to serve out the win against Fernandez, but nerves got the better of her before she finally got over the line.

“The first match point, I felt more nervous tension,” said Trevisan, who is only the eighth Italian woman to reach a grand slam semi-final.

“It was normal to feel that emotion. It was my second quarter-finals, I was very close and it was the first time for me.

“The trophy in Rabat was very important, the first in my career. I came here with a lot of energy, I wasn’t tired, I wanted to push all my emotion onto the court.”