PARIS-Elina Svitolina saved three match points and returned to eliminate the second vice-champion Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 Sunday, obtaining its fifth appearance in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The 13th seeded Svitolina, originally from Ukraine, is a semi-finalist of the Grand Chelem-which takes place twice in Wimbledon and once at the US Open-but is 0-4 so far in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros.
“The past few months have been very difficult for the Ukrainian people, and the last few weeks have also been horrible,” said Svitolina. “This is something with which all Ukrainians live daily – with bad news. So when I’m on the ground, I’m fully focused on my work, on my tennis and trying to get these victories, try to keep the Ukrainian flag to fly for my country.
“This is what motivates me to continue to push, to continue to win, to continue playing tennis, in general.”
She will try to go further Tuesday, when she faces the triple reigning champion IGA Swiatek, who dragged out with a set and a break before defeating the Wimbledon champion in 2022, Elena Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The other quarter -final on the upper half of the female support will be n ° 1 Aryna Sabalenka against n ° 8 Zheng Qinwen. Sabalenka, a major triple champion, used a five-game race to take control of 5 to all in the first set and beat the No. 16 Amanda Anisimova from the United States 7-5, 6-3, while the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, Zheng, was a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 Winner on N ° 19 Liudmila Samsonova.
Paolini, n ° 4, entered a sequence of nine career victories of nine games on Sunday, including a title race on Red Clay at the Italian Open.
A year ago, she reached her first grand final at the French Open, losing against Swiatek, then reached the championship match in Wimbledon, where she lost against Barbora Krejcikova.
Against Svitolina, Paolini served for victory as it leads by a set and a break at 5-3 in the second. But the Italian was broken at 15 there. She then held her first two match points in advance 5-4, 15-40 as Svitolina served.
Paolini rejected the initial luck to put an end to things and a reverse the following.
In the equality break that followed, Paolini was again a point to win – and failed to pass, this time when Svitolina ended an exchange of 14 strokes with a volleyball winner.
From there, Svitolina was in control, heading for an advance of 4-0 in the third set. She is quite comfortable on Clay, where she won 16 of her 27 victories being tour this season.
Svitolina also beat Paolini at the Australian Open in January.
Swiatek looked at a sort of dragging 6-1, 2-0, leaving the crowd amazed, but she found her groove and a grain to prevail.
“In the first set, with her playing like that, I felt that I was not one chance,” said Swiatek, who had lost Rybakina during their two previous games on Clay. “Using the topspin was the plan from the start, but I didn’t think it gave me space to do it. But I am happy to be patient enough to stay in the game and use any opportunity that came to me.”
The victory continued the quest for Swiatek for four consecutive French open titles. The only women to win the single of Roland Garros in four consecutive years were Jeanne Matthey from 1909 to 1912 and Suzanne Lenglen from 1920 to 1923, when only French players competed.
Swiatek, 24 years old, who has not won a title on Clay in the accumulation of Roland Garros and served a short doping ban last season, celebrated Sunday’s victory.
“It means a lot. I needed this kind of victory to feel these feelings that I am able to win under pressure and, even if it does not go in the right direction, always shooting the match to win,” Swiatek told journalists. “It is an excellent confirmation for me. Obviously, it’s great to also have a total control over the match, but against great players, it will not always be possible. I am happy to have fought, and I also resolved problems on the field.”
Sabalenka is now the first player to reach the quarter -finals in 10 consecutive Grand Chelem since Serena Williams from 2014 to 2017. Sabalenka has more direct victories this year (33) than any other player has victories on tour.
“I’m super hungry for this tournament. I want to stay until the very last day,” she said.
Four American women will be in action in the fourth round on Monday: n ° 2 Coco Gauff against n ° 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, n ° 3 Jessica Pegula against Law Boisson de France and n ° 7 Madison Keys against Hailey Baptiste in an American match.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
