Four-time champion Iga Swiatek survived a scare by rallying to a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over 12th-seeded Elena Rybakina on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals of the French Open in Paris.
The win was the 25th in a row at Roland Garros for the Poland native, tying Monica Seles for the second-longest Parisian winning streak in the Open Era.
It was far from easy for Swiatek, who totaled 27 unforced errors over the first eight games of the match — losing six of them.
“The first set, I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner,” Swiatek said, the defending champion, said. “I just kept fighting.”
Swiatek rebounded, however, and dispatched Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, in two hours, 30 minutes to set up a quarterfinal match against 13th-seeded Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian saved three match points and recorded a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 win over fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy in two hours, 24 minutes.
Svitolina dropped the first set and fell behind 5-3 in the second before turning it around. She won seven of the next eight games to change the momentum and ultimately advance to her 13th Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“It was, I think, 5-4 or 5-3 at that time when I was two match points down. Of course, it was not usual maybe for her, but also, it’s such a pressure moment that sometimes can happen for both of us,” Svitolina said of Paolini.
“Yeah, I’m very happy I could save another match point on the tiebreak, because tiebreak was very close, and a few points just decided the whole second set.”
In another match on Sunday, eighth-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China advanced to the French Open quarterfinals for the first time following a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 win over Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
Zheng joined 2011 French Open champion Li Na as the lone Chinese players in the Open Era to reach the women’s quarterfinals by turning back Samsonova in two hours, 47 minutes.
Zheng relied on her serve, with five of her 10 aces coming in the third set.
She will face the winner of the match pitting top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and 16th-seeded Amanda Anisimova.
–Field Level Media
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