Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova conceded a younger version of herself would have been bemused by why it had taken so long to reach a grand slam final after she finally did so at the French Open on Thursday.
The 29-year-old turned her first major semi-final appearance into a maiden final berth with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Tamara Zidansek in Paris.
It will be Pavlyuchenkova's first outing in a grand slam final in what is her 52nd major, which establishes an Open Era record. She has become the first woman to play more than 50 majors before reaching a final.
Asked what her 14-year-old self would have said if she had known the wait would be so long, the Russian replied: "Fourteen-year-old me would tell me, like, what took you so long?
"It's tough to really talk about it right now. I don't know. It's been a long road. I had my own long special road. Everybody has different ways. I'm just happy I'm in the final.
"This is something I've been thinking about every single time. I think as tennis players, that's the only goal I think we have in the head. That's why we are playing tennis.
"That's for us the biggest achievement you can get. That's what you are playing for, of course. I think about it all the time.
"I've been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. It's been there in my head forever."
Pavlyuchenkova had six quarter-final singles losses to her name in slams before this tournament, a record that suggested a career of near-misses might be on the cards.
Curiously, she has also reached six doubles quarter-finals in the majors and also failed to win through any of those.
She now has a chance to end her long wait for a major title this weekend at Roland Garros, but admits she has had worries along the way.
"I had a lot of doubts. I could beat top-10 players and make the quarter-final of a major. I was very close to semi-finals a couple of times, but then it wouldn't happen," she said.
"It was just up and down in terms of results. But I feel like I'm there, I can beat those players, but the consistency is off, something is always off.
"Those little puzzles were not coming together every time. I guess maybe I had a lot of expectations that I couldn't deal with over the years. It's been a lot of different things."
Dominant Gauff double bagels Rus at Madrid Open
Coco Gauff made a flying start to her Madrid Open campaign on Thursday, recording the first double bagel main-draw win of her career as she cruised past Arantxa Rus to reach the round of 32.
Gauff needed just 51 minutes to see off 33-year-old Rus as she booked a meeting with Ukraine's Dayana Yamstremska for Saturday.
The US Open champion lost just 18 points throughout the match – eight in the opener and 10 in the second set – as she put any doubts over her recent form to bed in emphatic fashion.
Gauff's power proved too much for Rus in the opener, the third seed winning 88 per cent of points behind her first serve and converting three of four break points to go a set up in just 23 minutes.
Rus brought up four break points midway through the second set, but when she failed to convert them, Gauff punished her in ruthless fashion by reeling off another three games then finishing things with a terrific forehand winner.
Speaking after her win, the American said: "I played really well today. It was just one of those days for me… 6-0 6-0, I've never done that before, I'll probably never do it again."
Data Debrief: Gauff matches Azarenka, Halep feat
Gauff is just the third player to register a 6-0 6-0 win in the women's singles draw at the Madrid Open, following in the footsteps of two former world number ones in Victoria Azarenka and Simona Halep.
The American, who only turned 20 last month, is also the youngest player to double bagel an opponent in any main-draw match on the WTA Tour since Iga Swiatek did so against Karolina Pliskova in the 2021 Italian Open final in Rome.
Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid
Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.
Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.
Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.
"I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.
Data Debrief
This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.
Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player.
Osaka eliminated by Samsonova in Madrid
Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Liudmila Samsonova after an entertaining second-round battle on Thursday.
Having won her first match on clay for two years against Greet Minnen a day earlier, Osaka was able to force a final set against 15th seed Samsonova but ultimately fell to defeat.
Samsonova won a close encounter 6-2 4-6 7-5 to book a clash with American Madison Keys – who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets – in the next round.
Osaka had beaten Samsonova at Indian Wells last month and came close to securing another victory as she recovered well from losing the opening set.
But the Japanese star was broken to fall 5-6 behind in the final set, and the Russian made no mistake in ruthlessly closing out the victory.
Data Debrief: Samsonova ends losing streak
This was a crucial win for Samsonova, who came into the match having lost four consecutive contests, including that Indian Wells defeat to Osaka on March 9.
Samsonova did apply plenty of pressure in the final set – forcing five break points compared to just one for Osaka – and was ultimately rewarded in the closing stages of a contest that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.
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