Swiatek survives Rybakina scare
AFP | Paris
Triple-defending Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek battled into the quarter-finals of the French Open yesterday, overcoming a bruising first set loss to eventually defeat former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
The four-time holder of the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, who has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the title last year, was in serious trouble when trailing 2-0 in the second set.
But the 24-year-old dug deep to clinch a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
The Pole will next face Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who knocked out 2024 losing finalist Jasmine Paolini, in the last eight on Tuesday.
Swiatek is now on a 25-match winning streak at the French Open and boasts a remarkable 39-2 win-loss record in the tournament.
Rybakina had won both of her previous career meetings with Swiatek on clay and the Kazakh dominated the opening set, hammering 12 winners past her bewildered opponent.
'Well it was tough you know, first set I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner,' said Swiatek.
'I needed to do something to get back in the game, but with her playing like that I didn't feel like I had much hope.'
Rybak in a broke in the first game of the second set as she threatened to run away with the match.
But Swiatek impressively turned the set around with a run of five straight games.
The fifth seed looked to have finally seized total control with a break to lead 4-3 in the deciding set, only to hand it straight back. Swiatek was one game from defeat when trailing 5-4, but she managed to end Rybakina's resistance and held her nerve to serve out the match.
Svitolina made the quarter-finals for the fifth time with a comeback 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win over last year's runner-up Paolini, saving three match points in a dramatic opening match on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The former world number three, who has never made a Grand Slam final, will be bidding to reach a first Roland Garros semi-final when she faces Swiatek.
'I still cannot believe that this match finished my way, ' said Svitolina.
'It was a really difficult match today, Jasmine was playing really well. It was really tough for me but I'm very happy I was able to stay composed and fight until the very last point.'
Fourth seed Paolini, who won the Italian Open last month, fell to the same opponent for the second straight major tournament.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen secured a quarter-final place with a hardfought three-set victory over 19th-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
The Chinese eighth seed extended her winning streak at Roland Garros to 10 matches, winning 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
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