Photo credit: Antoine Couvercelle/ROLEX
Streaks and skid marks cropping the clay served as a road map for Iga Swiatek’s wild ride.
Battering Swiatek into scoreboard oblivion, Elena Rybakina roared through eight games in a row to send the reigning champion spiraling.
Fueled by determination, Swiatek turned Court Philippe Chatrier into revival ground.
Crunching drives with conviction, Swiatek battled back for a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Rybakina advancing to the Roland Garros quarterfinals for the sixth straight year.
It is Swiatek’s 25th consecutive Roland Garros win—equaling legendary Monica Seles for second place behind Chrissie Evert on the all-time leader list—and improves her career record to an astounding 39-2.
Continuing her quest for an Open Era record fourth consecutive Roland Garros championship, Swiatek faces Ukrainian veteran Elina Svitolina, who famously upset the Pole at Wimbledon, for a semifinal spot.
View this post on Instagram
Roland Garros hasn’t scheduled a women’s night match on Court Chatrier for the past two years, but the ladies electrified the court today with a pair of pulsating comeback victories.
In a stunning start to Sunday’s play, Elina Svitolina staged a fierce fightback fending off three match points to topple Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 in a physical two hour, 24-minute triumph.
The 13th-seeded Svitolina looked down and out facing a 4-6, 1-4 deficit against the two-time major finalist. When Paolini served for the match at 5-3, Svitolina calmly broke at 15.
The 30-year-old Ukrainian saved two match points holding to level at 5-all.
The tiebreaker was heartbreaker for Paolini, who bled backhand errors from her opponent for a third match point at 6-5. A bold Svitolina blocked a backhand volley to erase it winning the final three points to take the tiebreaker before streaming through the final set
"I feel like I served well being two match points down," Svitolina said. "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.
"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."
A gutsy Svitolina snapped Rome champion Paolini’s career-best nine-match winning streak.
It is Svitolina’s fifth quarterfinal in 12 career Roland Garros appearances.
The 2024 French Open finalist Paolini was left ruing the lost opportunity.
“It's a tough one. I think we played a great match,” Paolini said. “I had my chances.
“She played well; I didn't. I didn't take it. You know, it's tennis, so it's hard to accept, but I have to.”
The same can be said for Rybakina, who was 2-0 lifetime on red clay vs. Swiatek, and looked every bit in charge rampaging to a 6-0, 2-0 lead.
How devastating was Rybakina for that stretch? Swiatek said it felt like she was facing Jannik Sinner. However, Rybakina blew a point-blank high forehand volley in the fourth game of the second set and that gave Swiatek the opening she exploited.
"Definitely was a moment in the second set when I hit the volley on top of the net and I lost it, so it did turn around," Rybakina told the media in Paris. "She stepped in. She started to play more aggressive, and I was down already.
"Also physically I started with very good intensity. I was aggressive.
"So in the second set it was quickly she went up, so it was tough to come back, and just generally I was not pushing well on the legs with the serve, so it was a bit tough too."
Though Swiatek had won 26 of 27 service games through three rounds, Rybakina ripped her serve to shreds in the overwhelming opening set.
In an ideal start, Rybakina ripped a return right back through the middle handcuffing Swiatek to earn triple break point. Rybakina attacked net forcing a netted forehand pass to break for 2-0.
The Strasbourg champion erased a break point with a biting serve down the middle to confirm the break for a 3-0 lead after 13 minutes.
Blasting through the Pole’s defense, Rybakina ripped a forehand strike for break point in the fourth game. Catching Swiatek on her heels with a drop shot, Rybakina followed it forward and pushed a pass down the line breaking again for 4-0.
A 115 mph ace out wide and confounding kick serve propelled Rybakina to a commanding 5-0 lead after just 19 minutes.
A shell-shocked Swiatek was on the verge of absorbing her first bagel in Paris since No. 3 Simona Halep dished her a bagel back in 2019.
A stubborn Swiatek saved off a couple of set points, sliding an ace down the T that helped her finally get on the board after 29 minutes of play.
TOn her fifth set point, Rybakina lashed an ace down the T sealing a dominant 34-minute opener.
Both women left the court for a bathroom break, but Swiatek couldn’t flush frustration.
The anxious defending champion double-faulted away her third break of the match to start the second set. Rybakina rolled through eight straight points to start the second set.
A reeling Swiatek slowed the onslaught, dancing around her backhand and spinning a forehand down the line, holding for 1-2 after 48 minutes.
That hold showed grit, then Swiatek got a lucky helping hand from her opponent.
Facing break point, Rybakina opened the court behind a forehand, was on top of the net with a routine high forehand volley.
Inexplicably, Rybakina badly bungled the easiest shot of the set, tapping it into the tape in a mind-blowing miss that would make even hackers cringe to gift-wrap the break in the fourth game.
In a tense 11-minute game that followed, Swiatek fought off three break points, wasted three game faults with double faults on the ad side, yet somehow survived all that stress sliding a serve down the T to end her toughest hold. Swiatek won her third game in a row for a 3-2 lead.
Remarkably, after losing eight of the first nine games, a surging Swiatek won 10 points in a row to turn the tables completely.
Swiatek spun a forehand pass down the line for the love break and a 4-2 lead. When Rybakina netted a forehand, she bounced her red Yonex racquet off the red clay in a show of angst. Swiatek trotted to her seat on a five-game run holding a 5-2 lead.
Four-time champion Swiatek fired through a love hold with a firm “Come on!” forcing a final set after 81 minutes of play.
The champion applied pressure in the fifth game, but botched a forehand volley from point blank range as Rybakina held for 3-2.
After blowing that simple forehand volley, Swiatek bashed the top of the net in anger—a transgression veteran French chair umpire Kader Nouni let slide.
A defiant Swiatek showed deep desire fending off three break points in the sixth game. Swiatek shrewdly targeted the Kazakh’s forehand and drew errors holding to level after six games.
Those missed moments haunted Rybakina, who wasn’t penetrating the Pole with her kick serve. Swiatek slammed a deep forehand return for break point and when Rybakina netted a backhand, Swiatek broke for 4-3 after two hours.
Tension tightened as Swiatek double faulted back the break to even after eight games.
In an odd occurrence, Rybakina’s second serve was called a double fault as she seemingly gifted back the break. In fact, both players were already walking to their chairs. However, chair umpire Nouni bounded out of the high chair, checked the marked, correctly called the serve good and awarded Rybakina a first serve.
“She didn’t ask you to check the mark,” Swiatek said.
Rising from the reprieve, Rybakina held for 5-4.
Credit Swiatek’s clarity and physicality for helping her close. A weary Rybakina shoveled a poor forehand drop shot that landed on the serve line, Swiatek swatted it away for double break point. Rybakina smothered a forehand into net to cede the break and a 6-5 lead.
On her second match point, Swiatek completed rousing comeback and celebrate the two hour, 30-minute triumph with double fist pumping frenzy.