The 25-year-old Russian has still not lost a set in the Paris tournament.

She is also the player who has lost the fewest games so far.

To reach the quarters, she had yielded only fourteen.

Only Dinara Safina in 2009 (five), Serena Williams (ten in 2013) and Mary Pierce (thirteen in 2000) had done better.

And all of them had then risen to the minimum in the final.

This time against Kudermetova (29th), it was a little more (ten games conceded), but despite some tension at the time of the conclusion - she lost her serve while serving for the match, before winning at her sixth match point - she knew how to keep a cool head.

“Keep calm, everything is fine,” she told her clan at the end of the match, although she admitted that the game was “nerve-hard and very close”.

"It was a roller coaster, especially this second round. (...) It was a bit like victory was slipping through my hands. I'm glad I held on. And I managed not to disappoint me and stay the course mentally", welcomed the Russian at a press conference.

Former winner of the junior tournament at Porte d'Auteuil in 2014, Kasatkina had already reached the quarters in Major twice on the senior circuit, including in 2018 in the Paris tournament.

That year, she had reached her best ranking (tenth), before marking time and going through what she herself described as a "dark period" which made her think for a time of stopping her career, only 21 years old.

But for a year, it has gradually returned to the fore: N.72 at the start of 2021, it is currently ranked 20th in the world.

She had a good start to the season, with 22 wins since the start of the year (5th best performance), and had reached the semi-finals in Rome.

The one who aims to "make zero mistakes" in the Parisian tournament and not "reproduce past mistakes" will face the world No.1 Iga Swiatek and big favorite of the tournament on Thursday.

"Tomorrow is another milestone, another mountain to climb. Maybe it's better, actually, not to have so much time in front of me not to think about it too much," Kasatkina said.

"Iga, we played together several times. I lost these matches but it was different, it was tough, at the start of the year. (...) I want to win, I have a passion for to win, too. So it will be a good match. And then you never know what can happen in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam so it will be fun, "said the Russian.

© 2022 AFP