With her delicate touch and vast repertoire of spins and angles, Jabeur has become synonymous with the unpredictable. For once, though, the 28-year-old was forced to work from a more limited toolbox. Having shaken off a slow start to establish a 4-1 lead, Jabeur began spraying balls long and wide at an alarming rate; by the end of the set, she had amassed a remarkable 31 unforced errors. Her difficulties were compounded by the tireless Zidansek, who utilised her outstanding defensive skills and relentless consistency to inflict all manner of torment on her increasingly frustrated opponent. 

Had the Slovenian converted one of the three set points she held in the first-set tiebreak, the outcome might have been very different. Instead, Zidansek was forced to stew on those missed chances for a further eight games, at which point she converted the first break point of the second set. That gave the former French Open semi-finalist the platform she needed to level the contest. Having done so, however, she became inexplicably error-prone as Jabeur, belatedly realising it was a day for progressing rather than impressing, pushed for the line.

“It was a tough match,” said Jabeur, who played down concerns about the strapping on her right knee. “Just not the way I wanted to play. But I kept fighting. 

“Frustrating to lose the second set, but I think I got the time to think and talk to myself more. The third set was really great.”

Elsewhere in the lower half of the women’s draw, Aryna Sabalenka advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic. Sabalenka, the fifth seed and champion in Adelaide 10 days ago, is bidding for a grand slam breakthrough after reaching the biggest final of her career at last year’s WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas.  

“The only thing I can say is that I’m really working hard,” said Sabalenka. “Physically, mentally, I’m ready to go deep.”

Also through is Caroline Garcia, the fourth seed and WTA Finals champion, who brushed aside the Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-0. Garcia will face Leylah Fernandez in round two after the former US Open finalist came through 7-5, 6-2 against Alizé Cornet.

“It’s a good challenge,” said Garcia. “I will have to play my best tennis for sure.” 

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It was a triumph of patience and perseverance for the Russian, whose struggle to fulfil the promise of a spectacular junior career has spanned 52 grand slams in the senior ranks. No major finalist has waited longer to make the breakthrough, and there must have been times when Pavlyuchenkova wondered whether she would ever emulate the success of her youth, when she won topped the junior rankings and won the girls’ singles at the Australian and US Open. She now stands one win away from exorcising those demons permanently.

“I had my own long, special road,” said Pavlyuchenkova, who will face Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday’s final after the Czech defeated Maria Sakkari. “Everybody has different ways. I’m just happy I’m in the final, trying to enjoy. I think about [winning a major] all the time. Been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. That’s what you’re playing for. That’s what you want. It’s been there in my head forever.”

She has certainly had long enough to contemplate it. It is a decade since Pavlyuchenkova’s previous best run in Paris, and she was forced to draw deeply on the rich well of experience she has accumulated in the interim to get past Zidansek. But she has worked hard to add greater mental and physical steel to her repertoire, and here she showed admirable composure against a tenacious opponent who simply refused to lie down. 

Defeat ended a marvellous run for Zidansek, who put out former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu on day one and has improved with each passing round. The Slovenian’s powerful forehand, struck with ferocious topspin, often with both feet off the ground, is a wonder to behold. She fired 109 winners from that wing on her way to the semi-finals, more than Rafael Nadal or any other player, and Pavlyuchenkova knew she would have her work cut out.

The Russian had done her due diligence, however, and sensibly trained her fire at the Zidansek backhand from the outset. Her approach paid off in the eighth game when the Slovenian missed three consecutive two-handers from 40-0 up, paving the way for what looked a vital break. 

But as Pavlyuchenkova served for the set, Zidansek shifted gears, hitting her forehand with renewed venom and scrambling desperately for every ball. A high backhand volley came off the top of Zidansek’s frame and flew into the corner for a winner, and when Pavlyuchenkova was subsequently broken a change of momentum looked almost inevitable. 

The Russian stuck to her guns, however, peppering her opponent’s backhand as she staved off two break points to move 6-5 ahead, and the pressure finally told on Zidansek when she double-faulted on set point in the next game. The 23-year-old had twice recovered from a set down over the fortnight, but another recovery proved beyond her  

“I had a game plan obviously, I knew that Tamara’s forehand is dangerous, so I tried to avoid that,” Pavlyuchenkova told Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander. “But sometimes it was tough to play every single ball to her backhand, especially on the return, so I was trying to adjust.”

So was she as calm as she looked? “No, just total poker face,” said Pavlyuchenkova, the first Russian to reach the final since Maria Sharapova won the title six years ago. “But you have no time to panic – every point, every ball is important.”

Come Saturday, they will be even more so.

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