Two years ago, Nadia Podoroska could not afford to travel to tournaments, after a wrist injury saw her earnings drop - but now money will not be a problem for a while.
The Argentinian beat third seed Elina Svitolina 6-2 6-4 to become the first female qualifier to reach the semi-finals at the French Open, pocketing at least US$501,120 (NZ$755,750) - about NZ$300,000 more than she had previously earned in her entire career.
"The toughest part for me was 2-3 years ago, I had too many injuries and my ranking dropped," the 23-year-old says.
"I was eight months out of the tour, then I didn't have the money to start playing tournaments."
Podoroska dropped to 508th in world rankings in May 2018, before gradually working her way up to reach a career-high of 130th last month, winning the Saint Malo Open - an ITF World Tour tournament, one level below the main WTA Tour.
She then entered the qualifiers at Roland Garros and is now on a 13-match winning streak, living the dream.
"I don't want to wake up," she says with a smile.
With a certain sense of understatement, coach Juan Pablo Guzman says Podoroska is "playing like a good level".
"The good thing is she can maintain all the match playing at this level," he adds.
Podoroska's game combines a good eye for angles, decent power and a nice touch for drop shots, which had Svitolina running around the court chasing balls throughout their encounter.
"I think the condition of the weather, of the balls, they are much heavier than usual... the part of the year it's humid, cold, the courts are heavy," says Guzman. "I think it helps a lot for her to play this kind of game.
"I think she still has more game to show."
Podoroska now faces Polish teenager Iga Swiatek and victory would make her the first female qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final since tennis turned professional in 1968.
Swiatek cruises past qualifier into semis
Pole Swiatek has recovered from a nervy start to outclass Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-1 and move into the French Open semi-finals.
The 19-year-old, who thrashed top seed Simona Halep in the previous round, looked tight, as she trailed 3-1, after a long wait to get on court, but took charge with some aggressive hitting.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Swiatek won eight games in a row to move to within three games of victory, before tricky left-hander Trevisan stopped the rot with a break of serve.
But a crushing forehand winner by Swiatek in the following game resumed the onslaught and she romped to her fifth straight-sets victory in a row on the Paris clay.
Had the 159th-ranked Trevisan won, she would have set up an unlikely semi-final against Podoroska, which would have guaranteed a qualifier reaching a Grand Slam final for the first time in the professional era.
But world No.54 Swiatek produced another dominant display to become the first Polish woman to reach the French Open semi-finals, since Jadwiga Jedrzejowska was runner-up in 1939.
Reuters
