French Open: Trevisan surges past Fernandez for first major semifinal

Paris, May 31 (IANS): Martina Trevisan reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros with a three-set win over Leylah Fernandez here on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old Trevisan defeated No.17 seed Canadian Fernandez of 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 in 2 hours and 21 minutes and extended her winning streak to 10 matches, booking her place in the last four of a major for the first time.

The Italian bounced back after failing to convert a match point serving at 5-4 in the second set to seal her third career Top 20 victory and extend her winning streak to 10 matches. Just over a week ago, 28-year-old Trevisan captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Rabat, upsetting Garbine Muguruza en route.

Having spent four years sidelined from the sport as she battled anorexia in her early career, Trevisan’s resurgence over the past two-and-a-half weeks has seen her bring her best form to the biggest stage once again. She becomes the third Italian woman to reach the Roland Garros semifinals in the Open Era, following 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone and 2012 finalist Sara Errani.

In the first Grand Slam quarterfinal between left-handers since Lucie Safarova beat Ekaterina Makarova at Wimbledon 2014, it was Trevisan’s weaponry that proved most effective and most reliable.

Her forehand has been the signature shot of her winning streak, and as soon as she had any extra time to set up on it, she was able to pummel it in any direction to end the point. It was Trevisan’s versatility and weight of shot that invariably got the upper hand.

Consequently, Trevisan found 43 winners to Fernandez’s 29, while keeping her unforced error tally to 29 compared to Fernandez’s 44.