Elina Svitolina suffered a shock 6-2 6-4 loss as Nadia Podoroska became the first qualifier to reach the French Open women’s semi-finals.
Argentine Podoroska, ranked 131st in the world, broke the Ukrainian’s serve four times en route to the first set.
Third seed Svitolina was 4-3 up with a break in the second, but Podoroska converted a third match point.
The 23-year-old will face Iga Swiatek or Martina Trevisan, ranked 54 and 159 in the world respectively, next.
“It is a bit difficult for me to speak,” Podoroska said. “Thank you everybody for your support, I am very, very happy.”
Podoroska had never won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam before this campaign in Paris and was facing a top-20 opponent for the first time in her career.
Svitolina by contrast, is a former junior French Open champion and made the quarter-finals as a 20-year-old in 2015.
But Podoroska made light of the difference in experience, deploying the drop-shot to good effect and hitting 30 winners to Svitolina’s eight.
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