Andrea Petkovic’s feel-good story of the tournament continues as she became the first German woman to make the last four at Roland Garros since Steffi Graf in 1999.
The No28 seed took out former finalist Sara Errani 6-2, 6-2 in exactly one hour to reach her first major semi-final, where she meets fourth-seeded Simona Halep.
Petkovic was the only woman to make three major quarter-finals in 2011 before her career was derailed by a slew of injuries which almost drove her to retirement.
But the 26-year-old is happy to be back where she feels she belongs.
“Some people might say I had a really good draw. And I did have a fine draw,” acknowledges Petkovic. “But then again, the best in the world lost to a player that I beat afterwards. I had tough matches, and I’m not coming from nowhere to the semi-finals. I was in three quarters before and I won Charleston. I won two other tournaments.
“It’s not super surprising, yet it’s still a very special moment for me.”
Petkovic was facing a player she had just lost to in Madrid last month, and one who has more experience at this stage in the tournament as Errani was trying to reach the semis in Paris for a third consecutive time.
The 10th-seeded Errani broke and led 2-0 as the pair played under some heavy drizzle before Petkovic rallied to grab six games in a row.
The German landed an impressive 90 per cent of her first serves to take a one-set lead in 27 minutes.
“I had a very good game plan from my coach,” said Petkovic. “It didn’t work in the beginning, so I was getting a little worried.
“But I trust my coach a great deal, so I told myself, Stick with it for this set. If it doesn’t work out, you can still change something.”
The second set also began with a break for Errani, who led 2-0 before Petkovic retaliated, first holding serve then breaking with a pinpoint inside-out forehand winner, which she set up with a punishing return.
Petkovic got her hands on three break points in the sixth game with a monster backhand winner and she got the break by attacking the Errani serve once again, gaining a 4-2 lead with a backhand return winner.
The No28 seed saved two break points to hold in the following game and sealed the deal on her first match when Errani’s backhand landed wide.
Petkovic ended the match with a 91 per cent first serve percentage and the German won a remarkable 67 per cent of points on return.
On her part, Errani said she was mentally drained and had no energy to keep up with the aggressive Petkovic.
She has had her run-ins with the Italian press this fortnight and when asked whether that affected her on the court she said: “Maybe yes, maybe no. I don’t know.”
