Paris, Jun 2: Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.
The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open — but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.
“Last few months have been really, really tough for the Ukrainian people, and last few weeks have been awful, as well,” Svitolina said. “It’s something that all Ukrainians live on a daily basis with — with the bad news. So when I’m on the court, I’m fully focused on my job, on my tennis, and try to get these wins, try to keep Ukrainian flag flying for my country.
“That’s what motivates me to keep pushing, to keep winning, to keep playing tennis, in general.”
She’ll try to go a step further Tuesday, when she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who trailed by a set and a break before defeating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women’s bracket will be No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 8 Zheng Qinwen. Sabalenka, a three-time major champ, used a five-game run to take control from 5-all in the first set and beat No. 16 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. 7-5, 6-3, while 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng was a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova.
The No. 4-seeded Paolini entered Sunday on a career-best nine-match winning streak, including a run to the title on red clay at the Italian Open.
A year ago, she reached her first major final at the French Open, losing to Swiatek, then also made it to the championship match at Wimbledon, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova.
Against Svitolina, Paolini served for the victory while leading by a set and a break at 5-3 in the second. But the Italian got broken at 15 there. She then held her first two match points while ahead 5-4, 15-40 as Svitolina served.
Paolini missed a forehand on the initial chance to end things and a backhand on the next.
In the ensuing tiebreaker, Paolini again was a single point from winning — and again failed to come through, this time when Svitolina ended a 14-stroke exchange with a volley winner.
From there, Svitolina was in control, racing to a 4-0 lead in the third set. She is quite comfortable on clay, where she has earned a tour-leading 16 of her 27 wins this season.
Svitolina also defeated Paolini at the Australian Open in January.
What else happened at the French Open on Sunday?
Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe reached their first French Open quarterfinals and gave the United States two men in that round in Paris for the first time since 1996. Not even one man from the country had reached the final eight since Andre Agassi in 2003. No. 12 seed Paul beat No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 15 Tiafoe defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Paul now meets No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion. Alcaraz defeated No. 13 Ben Shelton of the U.S. 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Tiafoe’s next opponent will be No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against No. 10 Holger Rune in a match that ended after midnight.
Who is playing Monday at Roland-Garros?
The fourth round is scheduled to conclude on Day 9, with No. 1 Jannik Sinner against No. No. 17 Andrey Rublev, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic against Cam Norrie among the men’s matches, and four U.S. women in action: No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. Lois Boisson of France, and No. 7 Madison Keys vs. Hailey Baptiste in an all-American matchup. (AP)
