Serbian tennis player Aleksandra Krunić will play in the Roland Garros semi-finals! She created a massive upset in the doubles competition with Anna Danilina from Kazakhstan, eliminating the world’s number one pair, Kateřina Siniaková and Taylor Townsend, with a score of 7:5, 4:6, 6:2!
This marks Krunić’s greatest career success, given that she had previously reached the quarterfinals at Grand Slams but never advanced to within two steps of the title.
After so much struggle, injuries, and surgery, Aleksandra has finally achieved what she has long deserved: greater success in the doubles competition. Partnering with Danilina, a Top 20 doubles player, she has created a sensation at Roland Garros.
They didn’t take any detours but directly targeted seeded pairs, who fell one by one.
The first round was a tough battle, and it seems they truly gained momentum after overcoming Linette and Pera. It was precisely at the start that they lost their only set so far in the tournament.
After that, Krunić and Danilina defeated Jiang and Wu, the tenth seeds, 2-0, and then Mohammed and Schuurs, who were seeded fifth in this prestigious tournament.
Everything was going incredibly well, and then they faced the best on the planet, the world’s number one and two rackets, Siniaková and Townsend.
A true seesaw battle with numerous unconverted break points was seen on both sides, but both pairs held their serve until 3:3. Then came a flurry of breaks, five in a row!
It was during this final series of breaks, for a 6:5 lead, that Aleksandra and Ana on Court Suzanne Lenglen announced they might pull off a sensation.
A response was expected from the other side, but it didn’t materialize. It’s truly a miracle that the second set wasn’t over in less than half an hour, as the Serbian and Kazakh duo made two breaks to go up 4:0 and then had another chance to reach 5:0.
However, the experienced opponents held on, prevented the 5:0 lead, and then literally within 15 minutes completely re-energized the match, coming back to 4:4. This panicked the Serbian-Kazakh duo, who succumbed to the momentum and lost the second set.
Although many thought it had become a one-way street, Aleksandra and Ana mentally reset in the third set, took control once again, and quickly reached 3:0. This time, they managed to maintain a sufficient lead to prevent another comeback.
Having already eliminated the tenth, fifth, and first seeds in the tournament, they will have huge chances to defeat Ulrikke Eikeri and Eri Hozumi, who were also not exactly expected to reach this stage.
Eikeri and Hozumi eliminated the experienced Irina-Camelia Begu and Yanina Wickmayer with a 6:4, 6:3 score, so they too have reason to hope for another victory after their successes.
Interestingly, Aleksandra will be at least one spot away from the world’s Top 50 in doubles, and should she advance further through the Roland Garros draw, she will certainly become a member of that elite group.
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Source: Telegraf, Photo: Telegraf