French Open day 10: Qualifier Nadia Podoroska’s Cinderella story continues

She became the first qualifier to reach the French Open semi-finals

Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska celebrated a remarkable victory at the French Open in Paris. Picture: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Nadia Podoroska became the first qualifier to reach the French Open semi-finals after shocking third seed Elina Svitolana.

Dominic Thiem fell short in an epic five-setter against Diego Schwartzman, who booked a first grand slam semi-final against Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard downed Italian teenager Jannik Sinner.

Picture of the day

Podoroska hurled her racket in the air after beating Svitolina (Michel Euler/AP)

Shot of the day

This just shouldn’t be allowed.

Stat(s) of the day

Podoroska’s win made her the first qualifier to reach the women’s semi-finals in French Open history, and only the third at any grand slam in the open era. She had never previously won a grand slam match, and has never won back-to-back matches on the WTA Tour. Nor had she even played a top-20 player before, let alone beaten one.

Quote of the day

Fallen seeds

Women: Elina Svitolina (3)
Men: Dominic Thiem (3)

Novak Djokovic, in his 11th consecutive quarter-final at Roland Garros, takes on Pablo Carreno Busta in a rematch of the US Open showdown which saw the world number one defaulted in what remains his only defeat in 2020.