Four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek exited Roland Garros on Sunday as the top seeds continued to fall at the start of the second week, while Alexander Zverev booked his spot in the quarter-finals.
The Polish third seed endured a miserable 25th birthday as she went down 7-5, 6-1 to Madrid Open winner Marta Kostyuk.
Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Since winning Roland Garros in her second appearance at the tournament in 2020, Swiatek had never gone more than two years without hoisting aloft the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, but after Aryna Sabalenka ended her bid to win a fourth consecutive French Open in the semi-finals last year, she has lost her unbeatable status on clay.
Indeed since last winning in Paris in 2024, Swiatek has only lifted three titles in the two subsequent seasons.
“I feel, like, for sure I lost today because Marta used the opportunity, and I was super tense,” she said.
“It is harder a bit to handle stress for me in, like, (the) last year.
“So I feel like today I felt off, you know, and I did mistakes that I didn’t want to do, and I wanted to play safe, but the ball flew everywhere.
“Suddenly these feelings came back, and I tried to work on it with my dialogue inside, but it was tough today. Yeah, so it all kind of went drastically down, and I played worse and worse.”
After breaking Kostyuk in the first set to edge 4-3 ahead, Swiatek’s serve totally deserted her and she failed to hold again as the Ukrainian hit back to claim the opener and then raced through the second frame.
For Kostyuk, reaching a first quarter-final at Roland Garros was just the latest high mark in a fine clay-court season, in which she claimed the 250-level event in Rouen, as well as a first WTA 1000 title in the Spanish capital.
Elina Svitolina next stands between her compatriot and the last four after she fought back to beat Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
The seventh seed has reached the quarter-finals at the French Open on five previous occasions but has failed to ever go beyond that mark.
After winning a first WTA 1000 title in eight years earlier in May at the Italian Open, Svitolina’s last-eight encounter with Kostyuk will pit against each other the two winners of the main warm-up events to Roland Garros.
“It’s exciting. Definitely she’s been playing really well,” Svitolina said of Kostyuk, who is on a 15-match win streak on the red dirt.
“I feel like it’s going to be an exciting battle for Ukraine, as well, you know, that there will be one Ukrainian in the semis. Yeah, I think it’s really cool.”
– ‘Handling the situations’ –
Sorana Cirstea continued her remarkable renaissance during her farewell season on tour as the 36-year-old bested Chinese world number 148 Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
The Romanian will face Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva in what will be her first quarter-final appearance at the French Open in 17 years.
Teenager Andreeva, who defeated 170th-ranked Swiss Jil Teichmann in straight sets, will be targeting a second semi-final in three years at Roland Garros.
Rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar has been no stranger to lengthy matches in his debut Roland Garros campaign but the 19-year-old’s five-set win over fellow countryman Pablo Carreno Busta was even longer drawn out than it would otherwise have been as the heatwave that defined the first week subsided to rain, which caused brief delays in play.
Jodar battled back from two sets down to beat the 34-year-old 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and progress to the last eight.
His next opponent is the highest-ranked man left in the draw and the prime contender to claim a maiden Grand Slam crown, German second seed Zverev.
The 29-year-old three-time major finalist eased through the fourth round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-1 win over 106th-ranked Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong.
Despite only dropping a set so far en route to an eighth quarter-final appearance at Roland Garros, Zverev refused to be drawn on the question of finally breaking his Grand Slam duck.
“I will focus on the matches that are ahead of me. This is the only thing that I can control,” he insisted.
“I focused on De Jong, I played a good match. I won. I’m going to focus on Jodar next and hopefully play a good match. That’s the only thing that is in my concern.
“I feel like I’m handling the situations quite well, and I will do everything possible to continue doing that.”
Mensik holds off Rublev to book maiden French Open last-eight spot
Jakub Mensik held off a resurgent Andrey Rublev in five sets at the French Open on Sunday to book his first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.
The 20-year-old Czech saw off the 11th-seeded Russian 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 2-6, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen to set up a meeting with either Joao Fonseca or Casper Ruud.
Mensik, who won the Miami Open last season, posted his previous best performance at a major in Melbourne earlier this year but surpassed that fourth-round run with his victory at the same stage over Rublev in the French capital.
Rublev took an early 3-0 lead in the first set, before Mensik responded by winning six games in a row to claim the opener.
Mensik had a chance to serve out the second set at 5-4 but was broken by his 13th-ranked opponent, before clinching the tie-break at the second time of asking with a backhand winner that wrong-footed Rublev.
Rublev riposted by breaking Mensik in the very first game of the third set before serving out to force a fourth frame.
Both players’ serves went somewhat haywire as three consecutive breaks opened the fourth set, until Rublev held and broke again to get an insurmountable 4-1 lead.
But Mensik found his range again on serve and forced the crucial break against Rublev in the eighth game of the final set, before firing a huge ace on his first match point to seal victory after three-and-three-quarter hours on court.
Brazilian teen Fonseca downs Ruud to reach French Open quarters
Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca clinched a dramatic four-set triumph against Casper Ruud in the French Open last 16, backing up his win over Novak Djokovic in style.
The 19-year-old powered his way to a 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-2 win in the night match at Roland Garros to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final, where he will face Czech youngster Jakub Mensik.
Fonseca showed a different side to his game after coming back from two sets down against both Dino Prizmic in round two and Djokovic on Friday.
He held off a battling Ruud, a two-time French Open finalist, in a gruelling contest that lasted three hours and 55 minutes and finished at 12:27 am local time on Monday morning.
“It was tough, Casper plays good here, he’s a very experienced guy and he knows how to play here on this court,” said Fonseca, who hit 51 winners in another exciting display.
“It was tough in the beginning but I played well in the important moments in the first and second sets.” After Rafael Jodar’s victory over Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday, Fonseca’s win means it is only the fifth time in the last 40 years two teenagers have reached the quarter-finals of a men’s Grand Slam competition.
He is the fourth Brazilian man to reach the Roland Garros last eight in the Open era, and the first since three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, who was watching on from the players’ box on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I just try to be me on court, try to be happy, try to hit winners, try to hit good shots, try to be entertaining,” added Fonseca, the 28th seed.
– Ruud on back foot –
Ruud was quickly put onto the back foot by Fonseca’s ferocious hitting and had to stave off three break points in the fourth game.
The vocal Brazilian fans dotted around Chatrier were on their feet again though in game 12, as Fonseca brought up a second set point with a brilliant backhand up the line before Ruud found the net.
The momentum was firmly with the teenager and he broke in the second game of the second set with a rasping passing shot, but Ruud hit back straight away.
The Norwegian started to put Fonseca under pressure, but the youngster saved five further break points in the set, including three in a marathon 11th game.
Ruud had to dig deep himself to force a tie-break, seeing off two set points on his own serve.
A dramatic breaker saw Ruud see a 5-2 lead slip away, miss three set points and then Fonseca finally take it with a blistering forehand.
Ruud showed all his battling qualities in his attempts to extend the match, saving break points in two separate games and then picking the perfect moment to break and force a fourth set.
Fonseca immediately refound his range, though, moving quickly into a 2-0 advantage.
Ruud’s resistance was finally broken when he dropped serve again to slip 4-1 behind, and Fonseca wrapped up victory on his first match point with a deft volley.