French Open: Elina Svitolina beats 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini, faces 3-time champ Swiatek next
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.
The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open — but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.
She'll try to go a step further on Tuesday, when she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who trailed by a set and a break before eliminating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Also reaching the women's quarterfinals was 2024 Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova. The eighth-seeded Zheng's next opponent will be No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 16 Amanda Anisimova.
The No. 4-seeded Paolini entered Sunday on a career-best nine-match winning streak, including a run to the title on red clay at the Italian Open.
A year ago, she reached her first major final at the French Open, losing to Swiatek, then also made it to the championship match at Wimbledon, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova.
Against Svitolina, Paolini served for the victory while leading by a set and a break at 5-3 in the second. But the Italian got broken at 15 there. She then held her first two match points while ahead 5-4, 15-40 as Svitolina served.
Paolini missed a forehand on the initial chance to end things and a backhand on the next.
In the ensuing tiebreaker, Paolini once again was a single point from winning — and once again failed to come through, this time when Svitolina ended a 14-stroke exchange with a volley winner.
From there, Svitolina was in control, racing to a 4-0 lead in the third set. She is quite comfortable on clay, where she has earned a tour-leading 16 of her 27 wins this season.
Svitolina also defeated Paolini at the Australian Open in January. What else happened at the French Open on Sunday?
In the day's first men's match, Tommy Paul beat No. 25 Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to become the first American man in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003. The 28-year-old Paul, who is seeded 12th, was coming off consecutive five-setters but breezed to this victory. Who is playing Monday at Roland-Garros?
The fourth round is scheduled to conclude on Day 9, with No. 1 Jannik Sinner against No. No. 17 Andrey Rublev, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic against Cam Norrie among the men's matches, and four U.S. women in action: No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. Lois Boisson of France, and No. 7 Madison Keys vs. Hailey Baptiste in an all-American matchup.
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