Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to reach the Italian Open semifinals since 2014 when she beat Russian world number 11 Diana Shnaider 6-7(1) 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday.
In a stunning first-set collapse, Paolini was 4-0 up but lost the next five games before Shnaider then forced a tiebreak, which the 21-year-old Russian dominated.
Backed into a corner, world No 5 Paolini mounted a comeback of her own in the second set, winning six successive games after herself trailing 4-0.
Down a break in the decider, French Open runner-up Paolini continued to show resilience with the crowd behind her to became the first Italian woman to reach the last four of the WTA 1000 event since doubles partner Sara Errani just over a decade ago.