Svitolina, Swiatek Win, Set Roland-Garros Quarterfinal Showdown

Elina Svitolina, Roland Garros
Elina Svitolina (photo: Roland-Garros video)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, June 1, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

As the second week of Roland-Garros unfolded Sunday, No. 13 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine saved three match points in the second set against last year’s finalist, No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, and pulled off a remarkable win in which she rallied from a set down to win, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in two hours and 24 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier Sunday afternoon.

Svitolina, ranked World No. 14, saved two match points at 4-5 in the second set and another during the second-set tie-break.

The loss ended a nine-match winning streak for recent Rome titlist Paolini and it improved Svitolina’s win-loss record on clay this year to 18-2. Svitolina won her 18th career title on clay in April at Rouen. The 30-year-old Ukrainian became the second player this weekend to win from match point down following No. 7 seed Madison Keys, who saved three match points en route to defeating No. 31 seed Sofia Kenin in the third round.

A single point separated Svitolina from Paolini. She outpointed her opponent 102-101. Svitolina finished with 37 winners to 38 unforced errors, compared to 38 winners and 35 unforced errors for Paolini. She converted seven of 13 break-point chances and saved eight of 14 in improving her 2025 winners-loss record to 27-8.

“I still can’t believe this match finished my way,” Svitolina said during her on-court interview. “I feel my head is still in the match, in a big battle. It was a really difficult match today. Jasmine played really, really well. It was really tough for me. In the end, I’m very happy I could stay composed and fight to the very last point. Here I am in the next round.”

With her improbable victory, her 33rd at the French Open, Svitolina is through to her 13th Grand Slam quarterfinal – fifth at Roland-Garros – and fifth since coming back on tour from maternity leave in 2023.

Next, Svitolina will attempt to earn a berth in the last four in Paris for the first time against three-time defending champion and this year’s No. 5 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, who rallied after losing eight of the first nine games of her fourth-round match against No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan to win, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, in two hours and 30 minutes. The victory kept Swiatek’s hopes for a fourth-straight French Open title alive. She has not reached any finals in the past 12 months since winning the 2024 Roland-Garros crown.

The Polish star broke Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, for a 6-5 lead in the final set, then put away the victory on her serve. Swiatek triumphed on her second match-point opportunity with a forehand winner that capped a three-shot rally.

The victory was the 25th straight at Roland-Garros for Swiatek – tying her with Monica Seles for the second-longest winning streak by a woman in the Open Era behind Chris Evert‘s 39. Her last loss came in the 2021 quarterfinals against Maria Sakkari of Greece – and she’s 39-2 lifetime at the French Open. Swiatek has won four of the last five Roland-Garros women’s’ singles titles.

Swiatek hit 33 winners, which overcame 29 unforced errors – 17 of them committed in the opening set – and converted four of eight break points. Points were even at 92.

“It was tough,” the newly-turned 24-year-old Swiatek admitted during her on-court interview. “The first set I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner. Elena really pushed me. So, I needed to do something to get back in the game. Honestly, with her playing like that, I didn’t have a lot of hope. I just kept fighting and I’m happy I did that because every game I felt like I could loosen up even more. At the end I felt like I could play my game. I’m super happy.”

Defending champion Alcaraz holds off Shelton, 100th win on clay

Defending champion and World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who leads the ATP Tour in wins (34) and titles (3) this season, beat World No. 13 Ben Shelton for the third straight time – but he had to work hard for it. Alcaraz pulled through his fourth-round match with a display of superior shot-making and all-court play.

The second-seeded Alcaraz defeated No. 13 seed Shelton 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in three hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier in a battle of 22-year-old tennis stars. It was his 11th straight win at the French Open.

The victory provided Alcaraz with his 100th tour-level win on clay and it advanced him to his fourth consecutive Roland-Garros quarterfinal. He also has become the third Spanish man in history to reach 11 Grand Slam quarterfinals after Rafael Nadal (47) and David Ferrer (17).

“We both have great respect for each other. We brought the level to the top, showing great tennis for the people today,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview. “We played really great tennis and entertained the fans. … For me, it’s great having Ben around. I think it is great energy for the people and I love watching him play. I appreciate the moments I share with him.”

While Shelton hoped to earn the biggest win of his career and to stop the Spaniard’s 10-match winning streak at Roland-Garros, Alcaraz fought through a mid-match dip and came on strong. He won with a demonstrative third-shot forehand winner to put away the victory.

Alcaraz hit 43 winners – five of them aces – and made 43 unforced errors, compared to 32 winners – including six aces – and 47 unforced errors for Shelton. Alcaraz converted three of seven break points and saved seven of nine he faced. He outpointed Shelton 140-131.

“Today I fought against myself, against the mind,” Alcaraz added. “I just tried to calm myself. In some moments I was mad, I was angry with myself. Talking not really good things but I am really happy to not let those thoughts play against me. I tried to calm myself down and I tried to keep going. That is what I tried.”

The former NCAA singles champion Shelton was one of three Americans in the fourth round at this year’s French Open for the first time, alongside Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, most since 1995.

Paul wins battle of former Roland-Garros boys’ champions

No. 12 seed Tommy Paul of the United States needed just an hour and 51 minutes to polish off a fourth-round victory over No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, in a battle of former Roland-Garros boys’ champions, to advance to the quarterfinal round against defending champion and No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.

After winning back-to-back five-set matches, Paul took care of business in straight sets against Popyrin, who hadn’t dropped a set through the first three rounds. Paul became the first American man since Andre Agassi in 2003 to reach the Roland-Garros quarterfinals.

“I’m very happy to get a straight-set win,” Paul said during his on-court interview. “I’ve been playing some long matches so that one felt really good. My team has been doing a great job getting me ready for every match. Shorter matches like this one definitely help a lot.”

This represents Paul’s deepest run in seven Roland-Garros appearances and by reaching the last eight, the 28-year-old has become the ninth American in the Open Era to advance to major quarterfinals on all three surfaces – hard court, clay and grass – after reaching the semifinals at the 2023 Australian Open and the quarterfinals at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. Paul joins Agassi, Michael Chang, Jim Courier, Vitas Gerulaitis, Brian Gottfried, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras.

In improving to 12-3 on clay this season, Paul struck 27 winners, made 22 unforced errors and saved nine of 10 break points he faced.

Around Stade Roland-Garros

No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China defeated on No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-1, in two hours and 47 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to advance to her first Roland-Garros quarterfinal and fourth major last eight overall.

It was Zheng’s 10th straight win at Stade Roland-Garros – which includes last summer’s run to the Olympic gold medal – and the second time in two meetings on clay that the Chinese star has prevailed over Samsonova. It was also her 24th career Top-20 win.

Zheng hit 10 aces, struck 25 winners and converted four of 12 break points. She was outpointed by Samsonova 102-96.

Next, Zheng will face World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who pulled through to beat No. 16 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and 32 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. She secured the victory with a backhand winner up the line on her eighth match-point opportunity, which kept her hopes alive of winning a first French Open title.

Sabalenka fired 11 aces and won 73 percent (32 of 44) of her first-serve points, hit 29 winners to 19 unforced errors, compared with 24 winners and 22 unforced errors by Anisimova. She outpointed the American No. 4 77-66.

It was Sabalenka’s WTA Tour-leading 38th win of the season and the 33rd won in straight sets.

• No. 15 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States powered his way past No. 66 Daniel Altmaier of Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4), in two hours and 18 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, as the American No. 4 advanced to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal outside of hard courts – his fifth overall.

Tiafoe, playing in his 10th Roland-Garros main draw, improved his head-to-head to 3-0 against Altmaier thanks to hitting 40 winners while benefitting from 33 unforced errors by Altmaier. He is yet to drop a set in Paris through the first four rounds. Meanwhile, the German created the only Top-5 upset in both singles draw with his first-round victory over World No. 4 and American No. 1 Taylor Fritz. However, Altmaier was unable to produce the same results against Tiafoe, who outpointed him 109-86.

Next, Tiafoe will face No. 8 seed Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who defeated No. 10 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in three hours and 18 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier Sunday evening in the first all-Top 10 matchup of the week.

Sunday’s Roland-Garros results

Monday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

With wins by No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Mirra Andreeva and No. 7 Madison Keys on Saturday, it meant that for the first time since 2003 in Paris all top eight seeds had reached the last 16.

“Quotable …”

“Night sessions are always different. They’re always louder. The people are always more excited. Everything is always loud and different from a day session. I knew I was going to have to be scheduled once to play at night. And it’s OK. It’s fine. I mean, I would be watching football, for sure. … [PSG] won it for the first time, so I don’t know how we’re all going to go back to our hotels. It’s going to be quite a journey. Quite an adventure. But I think we are in for a long celebration and probably not much sleep tonight. It’s a fun night to be in Paris, I guess.”

– Three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic, during his post-match news conference Saturday evening, after defeating 153rd-ranked Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic.

 

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