Wildcard Dayana Yastremska delivered another gritty performance to reach the Open 6ème Sens - Métropole de Lyon semifinals with a 6-4, 7-6(3) over No.5 seed Jasmine Paolini in 1 hour and 41 minutes.

It was Yastremska's first win in four meetings against the Italian, who inflicted three defeats on her last autumn in Portoroz, Courmayeur and Linz. The result puts her into her first semifinal since Hamburg last July.

Afterward, the Ukrainian paid tribute to the Lyonnaise crowd, who have been solidly behind her all week. The tournament had welcomed Yastremska, 21, and younger sister Ivanna, 15, after the pair were forced to flee the war in Ukraine less than a week ago.

"I feel so much support from everybody," she said. "Maybe in a tough moment I can hear and especially feel how people are supporting me here, and that's another win for Ukraine."

Yastremska was less pleased about her form against Paolini.

"Today I was all the time losing my focus," she said. "I was pretty angry because I was doing sometimes such easy mistakes. I was trying my best to show a good level but every time I would make mistakes, I don't know why."

However, she was spurred on by the way in which her life has been upended.

"With everything I've been through, I have to push myself and fight to the end," she said. "That's what I was thinking about in the moments it was pretty tight, or when I felt really tired or a bit stressed.

"Every match I play here is nothing to lose. I'm giving everything I have. When I arrived here I was very tired, emotionally and mentally, so now with every win I get those emotions and that energy back."

Match reports: Yastremska d. Bogdan, Lyon R1 | Yastremska d. Bucsa, Lyon R2

The former World No.21's 22 winners still outweighed her 21 unforced errors, and many of them came when she needed to stave off potential turning points. Yastremska was repeatedly pegged back in both sets after going up a break, and after conceding three straight games from 4-2 in the second stood two points from losing the set. When she served for the match at 6-5, she was broken to love in a flurry of mistakes.

But more important was how Yastremska shook those setbacks off. Her crosscourt forehand was instrumental in sealing multiple breaks of the Paolini serve, and her backhand was majestic as she dominated the second-set tiebreak.

Yastremska will next face either No.2 seed Sorana Cirstea or Anna Bondar as she bids to reach her first final since Adelaide 2020.