8–6 IN THE THIRD! Frustrated Paula Badosa Stunned by Unseeded Tamara Zidansek at French Open 2021 Quarterfinals

Seeded 33 at the French Open 2021, Paula Badosa was beaten by unseeded Tamara Zidansek in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Zidansek hence became the first Slovenian to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

Tamara Zidansek’s comeback in the first set against Paula Badosa

Badosa was the one to start on the front foot as she broke Zidansek in the first game itself. Badosa consolidated her advantage by picking up another break and led, 3-0. But Badosa’s dominant serve disappeared as Zidansek broke back to cut the deficit, 3-1. Later on, Zidansek broke again to level the opening set, 3-3.

But the topsy-turvy set continued, as Zidansek was defensive and Badosa broke again to lead 4-3. However, Badosa made mistakes and unforced errors to give her advantage back to Zidansek. At 5-5, the match was already tense, but Zidansek continued ahead and led, 6-5. Badosa failed to hold and Zidansek took the opening set 7-5.

Paula Badosa comes back to win the second set and stay at French Open 2021

After a disappointing end to the first set, Badosa was on the back foot. A few double faults and erratic hitting saw her trail, 3-1. Badosa broke back in the next game but was again broken back as Zidansek could see her victory as she led, 4-2.

However, Badosa started an unreal come back to stay in the match. From 4-2 down, Badosa won four games in a row as she found her rhythm. Paula Badosa was back in the match, 6-4.

Marathon final set

The third set was a marathon, as both players were taking risks and showing great aggression. Both the players quickly exchanged breaks as the third set was evenly poised at 2-2. From here both were obviously tired and concentrated on keeping their serves. Zidansek was looking to hit more drop shots as Badosa was targeting Zidansek’s second serve.

At 6-6, Badosa was firing as she saw two break points on Zidansek’s serve. However Zidansek saved those, but Badosa again got a break point which Zidansek again saved. The Slovenian saved her service, as Badosa was dejected. Hence, Badosa made a few mistakes which cost her the set and Zidansek won the match, 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 to reach the semifinals of Roland Garros.