Elina Svitolina and Iga Swiatek overcame adversity on Sunday to advance to Tuesday's French Open quarter-final contest.
The Ukrainian star saved three match points en route to defeating Jasmine Paolini, last year's runner-up and recent champion in Rome, while Swiatek made a remarkable recovery from a meek opening set to claim her first victory on clay against Elena Rybakina.
Match preview
© Imago
Down a set and trailing 4-1 in the second, Svitolina's French Open journey seemed to be at an end; however, the 18-time WTA champion rallied to a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 victory, having saved three match points in her fourth-round success.
Beating the Italian means that Svitolina halted the Rome champion's nine-match winning streak, ending the fourth seed's hopes for consecutive quarter-final appearances in the French capital.
Now into her fifth quarter-final in Paris and 13th overall, the 30-year-old seeks to advance to a maiden Roland Garros semi-final following defeats in 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2023.
Those losses came against Ana Ivanovic, Simona Halep, Nadia Podoroska and Aryna Sabalenka, and the 13th seed aims to avoid another disappointment this year when she faces the best women's player on clay.
Having already improved to 33-11 at the event, Svitolina seeks a 34th triumph at Swiatek's expense to break new ground at the tournament.
© Imago
That ambition is easier said than done against the four-peat-chasing Polish star, who bounced back against Rybakina on Sunday to defeat the Kazakhstani for the first time on clay at the third attempt.
Sunday's match seemed to be going awry after the four-time Roland Garros champion trailed 5-1 in the opening set—a set she lost 6-1—but she played tight and clinical tennis over the next two hours to seal a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win.
Into her sixth consecutive quarter-final in Paris and sixth in seven appearances, the 24-year-old - whose previous defeat in the last eight was against Maria Sakkari in 2021 - aims to reach a fourth straight semi-final in the French capital.
The Pole's progress this year has not been without difficulty, as evidenced by the second set against Jaqueline Cristian and for much of Sunday's contest with Rybakina, but Swiatek has dug deep to extend her French Open winning streak to 25 heading into Tuesday's battle with Svitolina.
Having become the first female player to reach six straight quarter-finals at Roland Garros since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who was involved in 10 between 1991 and 2000, the four-peat-chasing superstar aims to secure her 40th career victory at the event to reach another semi-final.
Tournament so far
Elina Svitolina:
First round: vs. Zeynep Sonmez 6-1 6-1
Second round: vs. Anna Bondar 7-6[4] 7-5
Third round: vs. Bernarda Pera 7-6[4] 7-6[5]
Round of 16: vs. Jasmine Paolini 4-6 7-6[6] 6-1
Iga Swiatek:
First round: vs. Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 6-3
Second round: vs. Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-2
Third round: vs. Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5
Round of 16: vs. Elena Rybakina 1-6 6-3 7-5
Head To Head
Miami (2025) - Round of 16: Swiatek 7-6(5) 6-3
Dubai (2024) - Round of 16: Swiatek 6-1 6-4
Wimbledon (2023) - Quarter-finals: Svitolina 5-7 7-6(5) 6-2
Rome (2021) - Quarter-finals: Swiatek 6-2 7-5
Swiatek leads her head-to-head with Svitolina 3-1, securing two more victories after the Ukrainian player levelled with 2023's quarter-final success at Wimbledon.
That loss occurred on the Pole's least favourite surface on grass, and she enters Tuesday's tussle with two wins on hard courts and one triumph in their only matchup on clay four years ago in Rome.
Swiatek is 42-8 against opponents outside the top 10 in the past year, with her last loss to such players being her surprising defeat to Danielle Collins in Rome this year.
We say: Swiatek to win in two sets
Although Svitolina's battling qualities and ball-striking could push this contest into a third set, Swiatek's three victories in this matchup have come in straight sets, and we predict the same in their fifth meeting on tour, with the 24-year-old expected to take down the Ukrainian in two.
