French Open semifinals reshape history with no big-name winners

This year’s French Open semifinals feature no reigning grand slam winners in the final four—an unfamiliar lineup shaped by shocks, injuries and heat. Marta Kostyuk’s breakthrough continues against Mirra Andreeva, Maja Chwalińska rises to face Diana Shnaider, A

By the time the semifinal line-up was confirmed, one thing became impossible to ignore: this French Open has spent the last two weeks dismantling the usual script.

For so many years, the sport’s last four at Roland Garros has felt like a predictable club—players who have already done it before. This year, the final four across both the women’s and men’s brackets is looking unfamiliar in the sharpest way possible. Not a single grand slam winner is left.

Kostyuk’s road is the kind of plot twist tennis loves when it wants to surprise the room. The 23-year-old Ukrainian had already made history on Tuesday by beating Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals—becoming the first Ukrainian woman to reach the last four at Roland Garros in the Open Era. and also reaching the first major semifinal of her career.

Her breakthrough has been a long time coming. Kostyuk made her grand slam debut in 2018 at the Australian Open at just 15. reaching the third round before being knocked out by Svitolina. For years after that, she battled to maintain her rankings and struggled to make a big impact at major events. The turning point came in 2024, when she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Now, she’s in the semifinals and in the best form of her life—currently world No. 15. After her emotional quarterfinal win, she dedicated it to the people of Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.

On the women’s side, the semifinal opponent is Mirra Andreeva, a Russian teenager aged 19 who will play for a place in Saturday’s final. Even at this early stage, Andreeva has more experience than her age suggests. She previously made the semifinal at Roland Garros in 2024.

Andreeva also arrives with a résumé built on early acceleration. Like Kostyuk, she was a child prodigy who began breaking records on the professional tour when she was 17. In 2025. she became the youngest player to claim a WTA 1000 title and the youngest to climb into the top 10 of the world rankings since 2007. She is now ranked No. 8 in the world and is playing on her favorite clay surface in Paris.

Kostyuk and Andreeva are not the only semifinal story rooted in momentum. Another Russian youngster is chasing the same dream: Diana Shnaider, 22, who has been on a run of a lifetime in Paris.

Shnaider’s quarterfinal win came on Wednesday, when she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets—one of the biggest shocks of a tournament full of shocks. Shnaider then added Madison Keys to the list of scalps earlier in the draw. Before this week, her deepest major run was a round of 16 finish at the US Open in 2024.

After beating Sabalenka to reach the semifinals, Shnaider said: “Well, honestly I am speechless. Super happy.”

Her path to the elite level has also been shaped by a move across the Atlantic. In 2022, Shnaider moved to study and train in the US, attending North Carolina State University before launching her career on the professional tour.

And across from Shnaider will be Maja Chwalińska, 24—the oldest semifinalist remaining in the women’s tournament. Chwalińska’s journey is the kind that reminds people why qualifying matters. She had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw, but she has not looked back since.

This is only her third time competing in a grand slam main draw. Her first came at Wimbledon 2022, and her second was after she qualified for the Australian Open three years later. By her own account, she wasn’t expecting to stay in Paris longer than a week. She even admitted she struggled to book accommodation in the French capital as she kept rolling through the rounds.

Chwalińska said after reaching the semifinals: “Coming here, my goal was to qualify. I feel like I’m doing a good job, that I do the right things and I just needed to be patient for it to click.”

She added: “I want to leave Roland Garros this year without any regrets. I just want to give my all.”

Her run guarantees another milestone too: Chwalińska will break into the Top 100 for the first time in her career. It’s also a remarkable return for someone who stepped away from tennis in 2021 after struggling with her mental health.

The men’s draw has produced its own brand of unpredictability, even if one name still feels like the anchor of the tournament: Alexander Zverev.

Zverev is world No. 3 and has been close to winning a grand slam on multiple occasions. His first major final defeat came at the US Open in 2020. He also lost the French Open final in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025.

The context around his generation adds pressure to every match. He broke through while players like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were still around, and he’s now competing against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

This year’s chaos at Roland Garros only sharpened the spotlight on him. When Alcaraz pulled out of the tournament injured, and Sinner exited early on, all eyes turned to Zverev.

John McEnroe—tennis great—said on TNT Sports after Zverev won his quarterfinal match: “I’d say there is more pressure on him now to win a major, than at any time in his career.”

Zverev’s semifinal opponent, Jakub Menšík, was not the one most people had penciled in. The 20-year-old has reached his first grand slam semifinal by knocking out a host of higher seeds throughout this French Open.

Menšík only broke into the Top 100 in 2025. That same year, he won his first ATP title after beating Novak Djokovic in the final of the Miami Open. His breakthrough season didn’t stop there: he followed it with a fourth-round finish at this year’s Australian Open. and in February he beat Sinner to record his biggest win to date.

He faces Zverev on Friday, but there’s an immediate physical concern attached. Menšík was seen cramping up while speaking to the media after winning his quarterfinal.

Then there’s the men’s semifinal no one will be able to talk around: two Italians, facing each other on clay in a major.

Flavio Cobolli reached his first grand slam semifinal on Wednesday, setting up an all-Italian matchup against Matteo Arnaldi in the last four.

It is the first time two Italians will play each other in a grand slam semifinal since the start of the Open Era.

Cobolli, 24, loves playing on clay, and this has been the best run of his career. He started the year as world No. 22 and is now knocking on the door of breaking into the Top 10.

After reaching the final four on Wednesday, Cobolli said: “The best week of my life.”

Arnaldi, 25, is right there beside him. Like the rest of the semifinal field this year, Arnaldi is having the best run of his career—going beyond the fourth round in a major for the first time this week. He is currently world No. 104.

His semifinal opponent will also have the advantage of relative freshness. Arnaldi progressed through the quarterfinals after opponent Matteo Berrettini withdrew with injury.

The timeline around that quarterfinal still carries a strange abruptness: Arnaldi was about to go two sets up before Berrettini called time on his effort because of an apparent hip injury.

After making his maiden grand slam semifinal, Arnaldi said: “It’s a tough one.”

He continued: “We both played a lot, so it’s normal to not be at our best, but you never wish someone to end their tournament like this. He did an amazing tournament. We are all doing such a good job in Italy.”

Arnaldi’s climb has been dramatic. He started this year with eight straight defeats, and now he is two wins away from the most unlikely grand slam title.

And with the tournament stripped of its usual heavyweight assurances—left with no grand slam winners in the final four—the French Open semifinals don’t just look different. They feel like the sport’s present has finally pushed through the frame of its past.

French Open semifinals Roland Garros Marta Kostyuk Mirra Andreeva Maja Chwalińska Diana Shnaider Alexander Zverev Jakub Menšík Flavio Cobolli Matteo Arnaldi