Unseeded Italian Martina Trevisan surged into the French Open semifinals with a 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 defeat of Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday.
Trevisan had all the answers as she dominated most of the match against a below-par Fernandez who struggled to repeat the form that took her to last year's US Open final.
The world No. 59 could have won in straight sets but wavered when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second as fellow left-hander Fernandez dug deep to stay in the contest.
Fernandez comfortably claimed the tie-break to become the first player to take a set off Trevisan at Roland Garros this year, but it was to prove only a brief respite.
Trevisan raced into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and won a fiercely-contested fourth game to earn a double break.
Fernandez, who was treated for a foot injury in the first set, was never going to go away quietly though and broke serve twice herself to claw back to 3-5.The nerves were obvious as Trevisan again served for the match but this time she would not be denied as she secured the win with an angled crosscourt forehand.
