French Open: Swiatek beats ‘Sinner-like' Rybakina in epic comeback to reach quarters
Defending champion Iga Swiatek demonstrated once again why she is peerless on red clay as she scripted a sensational comeback against 12th seed Elena Rybakina in the women's singles fourth round on Sunday, 1 June. Swiatek advanced to the quarter-finals of the French Open, extending her winning streak to 25 matches at the clay-court Grand Slam.Swiatek was in danger of being bageled in the opening set but managed to win a game against Rybakina, who was firing on all cylinders. Rybakina, a former Wimbledon champion, was producing winners at will, returning Swiatek's serves with remarkable power and precision. She was positioning herself well behind the baseline to counter the trademark topspin generated from Iga's racquet. | French Open Day 8 Updates |advertisementThe Polish former World No. 1 even joked that it felt as though she was facing Jannik Sinner on the other side of the net, reflecting on the exceptional returning from Rybakina.
"Well, it was tough. You know, in the first set, I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner. She really pushed me, so I needed to do something to get back into the game. And honestly, with her playing like that, I didn't have a lot of hope - but I just kept fighting. I'm happy that I did, because with every game, I felt like I could loosen up even more, and in the end, I was able to play my game. So I'm super happy," Swiatek said after the win.Rybakina and Swiatek are producing some AMAZING tennis in this 3rd set #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/hsel7FYrB5— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2025advertisementSwiatek equalled Monica Seles's record for the most consecutive wins by a player in women's singles at the French Open. She is now only behind Rafael Nadal (39), Chris Evert (29), and Bjrn Borg (28) on the list of players with the most successive victories at Roland-Garros.There was more trouble for Swiatek after her seven-set winning run was broken, as she went a break down early in the second set. However, she found a timely response, breaking back to level at 2-2.While she appeared stiff throughout the first set - which lasted just 25 minutes - Swiatek began to find her groove after breaking Rybakina's serve for the first time. Her topspin game clicked into rhythm, allowing her to race ahead and win six of the last seven games in the second set.Swiatek was in control in the final set, taking an early break and maintaining her composure even after Rybakina managed to break back. The Kazakhstani's level dropped, marked by an increase in unforced errors, and she was unable to sustain the high-intensity tennis that had overwhelmed Swiatek in the first set.OLYMPIC CHAMPION INTO QUARTERSMeanwhile, Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng, seeded eighth, overcame a second set wobble to beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(5) 1-6 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals for the first time in her career. advertisementShe went down 1-6 in the second set, but held her composure to beat Samsonova in three sets and book her place int the last-eight at the venue where she won the Olympic gold medal last year. "Right now I feel incredible because I've been dreaming of reaching this stage, it did not happen in 2023 and 2024. I have no words to describe my emotions right now," Zheng said. "The crowd helped me a lot, they gave me a lot of energy. I like to play in front of a lot of people. It gives me a lot of motivation. I hope I can stay longer in Roland Garros.
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