Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played the match of the decade, and maybe the century, at Roland Garros

That’s not all Paolini pulled off. As a result of her performance in Paris, this year’s Dubai champion is projected to make her Top 10 debut next week.

Paolini is the fourth Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros.

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It also ended any chance of having the WTA’s Top 4 in the semifinals, after world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 3-ranked Coco Gauff booked their places Tuesday. Later, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva took down Aryna Sabalenka, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, to complete the final-four lineup.

Paolini broke to start the contest, ripping second-serve returns to put Rybakina on her back foot. The No. 4 seed struggled to find her range throughout the set, with several shots sailing long.

On the other side, the Italian executed a near-perfect set of tennis, producing just one unforced error and dropping just one point at the line—dazzling with a 100% success rate on points played on her second serve. Rybakina, meanwhile, needed to hit the reset button: She made double the unforced errors as winners and faced nine break points in a series of uneven service games.

Paolini was unable to consolidate two separate breaks in the second set, at 2-1 and 4-3 (where she led 40-15). It soon cost her, for the time being. Serving to stay in the set, Paolini’s 30-0 lead quickly flipped to 30-40. Rybakina, now blasting some of her best strikes of the clash, seized the momentum shift to level the scoreboard.

6 4 6

2 6 4

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The first four games of the decider went to the returner, with Paolini missing a pair of game points to go up 3-1. Both competitors held firm with strong hitting and timely drop shots to bring the encounter to a standstill at 4-4, where Paolini benefited from a trio of forehand miscues across the net to put the match on her racquet.

Pushed to 30-30, Paolini stayed the course to finish off her first Top 5 victory at a major after two hours and three minutes. The win avenged April's three-set defeat in Stuttgart, an experience Paolini drew from.

“I was a little bit prepared, what I should expect from this match. I think it went very well. I had a little bit of rollercoaster in the second set with the emotions. But I managed to come back,” Paolini told Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim in a courtside interview.

“She’s a great champion. I was telling myself to accept that, fight for every ball. Enjoy, because you are playing in such a great court. Enjoy the moment!”

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