By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, June 8, 2021
World No. 85 Tamara Zidansek fired 39 forehand winners edging Paula Badosa 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 becoming the first Slovenian to reach a Grand Slam singles semifinal.
Photo credit: Roland Garros Facebook
Slippery slopes seldom spook Tamara Zidansek.
So when the former snowboarder suffered a six-game slide to trail Paula Badosa by a break in a tense final set of this dramatic Roland Garros quarterfinal, Zidansek showed no signs of panic.
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Relying on fast feet and a fierce forehand, the world No. 85 hit her way into history.
Zidansek zapped her 39th forehand winner down the line and erupted in a scream of sheer joy battling by Badosa 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 becoming the first Slovenian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
Prior to arriving in Paris, Zidansek had never been beyond the second round in eight Grand Slam appearances and now stands one win from the Roland Garros final.
"It feels overwhelming," Zidansek said. "It's hard to take it in like this fast, you know. But I'm just trying to focus on my game, on myself.
"Speaking about nerves today, that's exactly what I tried to do. Of course it was a great opportunity for the both of us, you know, to get into the semifinals, but I guess I managed to keep my composure today a little bit better than her. But still, it was a tough battle in the end."
This French Open feel-good story that began with Zidansek showing grit and guts out-dueling sixth-seeded Bianca Andreescu 6-7, 7-6, 9-7 in the opening round hit an even higher crescendo today. Zidansek not only fought off Badosa, who carried a WTA-best 17-2 clay-court record and nine straight wins on dirt into this clash, but she withstood haunting self-doubt after squandering a one-set, 4-2 lead.
Inspired. Indomitable. Inexplicable.
This wild Roland Garros run left the 23-year-old Zidansek searching for how she's producing her most potent tennis in Paris now.
"I don't know—it sounds crazy even to me," Zidansek told Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim in her on-court interview. "Right now, I'm trying to focus on the next match and then after the tournament ends maybe it will come to me."
Facing oppressive pressure at 6-all in the final set, Zidansek fought off three break points including slamming a pair of forehand winners, in a rousing stand that spanned nine minutes.
"At that point you just kind of fight for your life, I guess. I just knew I had to keep going for it," Zidansek said. "So, yeah, I would say that my mindset was stay focused, be aggressive.
"I knew that I can do a lot of damage with my forehand. I've just got to get into the right position. That's exactly what I managed to do."
That critical hold helped Zidansek close her biggest career win.
The Slovenian, who has rocketed up to No. 47 in the live rankings, will face either 21st-seeded Elena Rybakina or 31st-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a place in the French Open final as the bottom half of the draw is ensured a maiden major finalist.
It's a gut-wrenching loss for Badosa, who saved a match point subduing Ana Bogdan 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 in the third round then knocked off 2019 finalist Marketa Vondrousova in the fourth round.
The New York City-born baseliner fought hard and had her chances—including those three break points at 6-all in the decider—but couldn't get across the finish line. Badosa betrayed her own cause committing nine double faults, predictably hitting her slice serve to her opponent's stronger forehand wing on the deuce court, and narrowly missing a few backhand drives down the line on pivotal points.
"It was a tough one. I think she played a good match," Badosa said. "I didn't feel myself in the whole match. I'm a little bit sad about that, because I think I played maybe the worst match of the tournament and of the clay season, but sometimes it's like that.
"I think I was very nervous. I couldn't control the nerves during the entire match. But at least I fight until the last moment and I had my chances. But, well, credit to her."
Badosa owned a 9-3 three-set record entering today's decider, but an energized Zidansek scored her third three-set win of the tournament to continue a monumental fortnight.
The 5'5" Zidansek owns a booming forehand she can thump bigger than her size suggests, covers the court quickly and showed soft hands carving out several drop shot winners.
The pressure of playing a maiden major quarterfinal wreaked havoc with both women's nerve creating a topsy-turvy opening set.
Badosa burst out of the blocks with successive breaks for a 3-0 lead.
Challenges have brought out the best in Zidansek in Paris. The woman who scored her first Top 10 win upsetting 2019 US Open champion Andreescu in the opening round, adjusted adopting more aggressive court positioning closer to the baseline.
That tactic empowered Zidansek to drive her forehand on the rise and mix in some clever drop shots. Zidansek tore through five of the next six games seizing a 5-4 lead.
The 2015 French Open girls' champion Badosa held a game point to force a first-set tiebreaker, but Zidansek coaxed a pair of errors earning a one-set lead.
"I was nervous in the morning. I was nervous yesterday night," Badosa said. "It's complicated the first time when you're in a quarterfinals.
"When you want it so, so much, maybe sometimes it's a little bit too much, and I was putting a little bit too much pressure on myself. I think that's a little bit the next time, if I have another opportunity like this, I will try to change."
Zidansek built a one set, 4-2 lead and was six points from a historic semifinal, but Badosa had more fight within and found another gear to her game.
The Spaniard answered with conviction roaring through 10 consecutive points to break back and go up 5-4. Serving for the set, Badosa spun a flurry of forehands drawing a stretched error to level this quarterfinal and force a final set at the 90-minute mark.
Sustaining her streak, Badosa drew a wild forehand error scoring her fourth straight break to open the decisive set eventually extending her streak to six straight games.
The first Slovenian woman to reach a major quarterfinal came back firing again flicking a forehand drop shot for break point in the fourth game. When Badosa smothered a forehand into net, Zidansek was level again. The Slovenian won her third straight game going up 3-2.
Deadlocked at 6-all, Zidansek flinched floating her second double fault of the day to face double break point. Showing guts, the Slovenian hammered successive forehand winners to draw even at deuce. The woman who had hit just one double fault the prior two hours, 15 minutes of the match shoveled her second double fault to face a third break point. Zidansek benefited from a bad bounce as the ball skipped beneath Badosa's Wilson Blade nullifying the third break point.
In a stirring stand, Zidansek fought through a nine-minute hold saving all three break points and finishing with a fierce bounce-smash winner for 7-6.
A jittery Badosa missed her signature shot, the diagonal forehand, to face double match point.
On her second match point, the Slovenian slashed an inside-out forehand and raced up to the mid-court reply. Zidansek zapped a forehand down the line to close a historic victory in two hours, 26 minutes. Fittingly, Zidansek finished with the forehand, the shot that has driven her wondrous run to the French Open final four.