Article
06 Oct 2020
Podoroska breaks new ground in Paris
06 Oct 2020
Less than a month ago, Nadia Podoroska won the biggest title of her career on the ITF World Tennis Tour at the W60+H Saint-Malo tournament in France.
Fast-forward 23 days to her next competitive appearance and the world No. 131 is in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, having defeated No. 3 seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-4 to become the first female qualifier to reach the last four in Paris in the Open Era.
"I don't want to wake up," admitted the 23-year-old Argentine, who had only qualified for a Grand Slam tournament once before – falling in the first round at the 2016 US Open – and had only set herself the goal of qualifying for Roland Garros in recent months.
Podoroska is the first Argentine woman since Paola Suarez in 2004 to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros - and she's hoping that her success can inspire her countrywomen to follow suit.
"For me it's very special because in all South America we don't have too many tournaments," she said. "It's very complicated for all the South American girls playing tennis.
"For me, I think it's good that I'm having these results. Maybe it's going to help for all the young girls."While few might have predicted her latest success, Podoroska has laid plenty of building blocks over the past 12 months following a strong season on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
She began the year with hard court triumphs at W25 tournaments in Malibu and Petit-Bourg (Guadeloupe) to set her upward trajectory in motion, but it was only when she won her biggest title yet in Saint-Malo - and subsequently climbed 35 spots to a career-high ranking of No. 130 - that she could really start thinking about featuring in any capacity at Roland Garros.
"It was a very good experience for me," said Podoroska of her triumph at Saint-Malo - the 14th professional title of her career. "The week before that tournament, I also played in Prague.. too many matches.
"During all this year I've been playing so, so good. I have a lot of confidence. I think it was good to have too many matches this year. It's helping me a lot."
In reaching the last four in Paris, the Argentine improved her win-loss record for the season to a hugely impressive 43-6 – which includes a 25-3 record on clay and 18-3 on hard courts.
"It was a very good experience for me," said Podoroska of her triumph at Saint-Malo - the 14th professional title of her career. "The week before that tournament, I also played in Prague.. too many matches.
"During all this year I've been playing so, so good. I have a lot of confidence. I think it was good to have too many matches this year. It's helping me a lot."
In reaching the last four in Paris, the Argentine improved her win-loss record for the season to a hugely impressive 43-6 – which includes a 25-3 record on clay and 18-3 on hard courts.
Her current winning streak sits at 13 match-wins, following her qualifying victories over Magdalena Frech, Jaquelin Adina Cristian and Xinyu Wang, and her first Grand Slam main draws wins over Greet Minnen, Yulia Putintseva, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Barbora Krejcikova and Svitolina.
And she might not be done yet.