Tennis teenager Andreeva frees her mind in search of the Roland-Garros surprise

As the only unseeded player remaining in the tournament, Andreeva is an underdog in the truest sense of the word, having nothing to lose at Roland Garros where the top four seeds are expected to reach the semi-finals.

But after already knocking out a former Grand Slam champion, Victoria Azarenka, and losing just one set so far, Andreeva's secret ingredient to staying calm on court isn't just calming his mind, but to empty it.

“When we talk about the match, the plan, the tactics, I listen. But honestly, I don't remember anything after that,” said Andreeva, coached by former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez.

“I have nothing in mind when we start playing the match. I go there and I'm like, “Well, we'll see.” I will do it by myself.' That's how I always play. I think maybe this helps me a little.

“I don't really worry about my plan or how I'm going to play or how my opponent is going to play. I go there and play and see what happens. I can adjust something during the match.

However, Sabalenka beat her in both of their meetings on clay and Andreeva knows she needs to make adjustments if she wants to get the better of the Belarusian for the first time.

“We are going to change something, because the way I played the last two times didn't work… I don't have anything in mind, so I hope my coach will help me,” she added.

“She’s a player on another level, so I have to be prepared from the start.”

WIDE OPEN DRAW

With men's top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the tournament with a knee injury after two grueling five-setters, the top half of the draw was wide open.

His quarter-final opponent, Casper Ruud, will have an extra day off to recover but the Norwegian will keep an eye on the match between Alexander Zverev and Alex De Minaur to see who his opponent will be in the semi-final.

Australian De Minaur is having his best run at Roland Garros where he had never made it past the second round until this year and beat fifth seed Daniil Medvedev to reach the quarter-finals.

“I always thought that to play well on clay, I needed warm and lively conditions. But this entire tournament has proven otherwise. It was a complete shock to the system, to everything I have always believed in,” De Minaur said.

“But now it seems to be one of my best slam results. It looks like I've retrained as a clay court specialist!

The first quarter-final of the day will pit fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina against Italian Jasmine Paolini, who failed to beat the big-serving Kazakh in a completed match.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bangalore; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint assumes no responsibility for its content.

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