Latest news with #Ostapenko
South Wales Guardian
3 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Iga Swiatek's bid for fifth French Open boosted by win and Jelena Ostapenko exit
Swiatek swept into the fourth round and has yet to drop a set after beating Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5. The defending champion feared she would meet her nemesis, Jelena Ostapenko, who has remarkably beaten Swiatek in all six of their career meetings. 24 matches won in a row in Paris 🧡#RolandGarros @iga_swiatek — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025 But Latvian Ostapenko, the 2017 winner in Paris, was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Elena Rybakina to rob Roland Garros of a grudge match for the ages in the last 16. Asked if she had a preference about who to play, while the Ostapenko match was still in progress, Swiatek smiled: 'No. Am I a good liar? Let's say it doesn't matter, really. Oh my God. I couldn't play poker!' Swiatek is without a title since this time last year and has slipped to number five in the world. But the Pole has yet to run into any difficulty as she stretched her winning streak at Roland Garros to 24 matches. Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked player by some distance, is many people's favourite to win her first French Open title. But the Belarusian was keen to heap the pressure on to Swiatek's shoulders after beating Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-3. 'It's tough to predict in woman's tennis, you know,' she said. 'Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row, right? I will just leave it for her.' Sabalenka will face American Amanda Anisimova, the 16th seed, on Sunday. Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini, the fourth seed from Italy, is through after a 6-4 6-1 win over Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva Qinwen Zheng's match with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko was temporarily halted after a spectator injured themselves in the stands. The Chinese eighth seed was a set and a break up at the time and eventually won 6-4 6-3. In the men's draw, American 12th seed Tommy Paul came through his second five-setter this week, beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7) 3-6 6-3. Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti dropped the first set against Argentina's Mariano Navone but went through in four. In the night match, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz also needed four sets to beat Bosnian Damir Dzumhur. The Spaniard won 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4 and said: 'The first two sets were under control but then he decided to play deeper and more aggressive. Defending champ locks his place in R4 🔒#RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025 'My energy went down but I had to give everything I had inside. I'm proud to get the win in the end. 'That's why it's difficult to win grand slams, because you have to keep your focus over three or four hours.' French 14th seed Arthur Fils has withdrawn from the tournament with a back injury, giving Russia's Andrey Rublev a walkover into round four.
Leader Live
3 days ago
- Sport
- Leader Live
Iga Swiatek's bid for fifth French Open boosted by win and Jelena Ostapenko exit
Swiatek swept into the fourth round and has yet to drop a set after beating Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5. The defending champion feared she would meet her nemesis, Jelena Ostapenko, who has remarkably beaten Swiatek in all six of their career meetings. 24 matches won in a row in Paris 🧡#RolandGarros @iga_swiatek — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025 But Latvian Ostapenko, the 2017 winner in Paris, was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Elena Rybakina to rob Roland Garros of a grudge match for the ages in the last 16. Asked if she had a preference about who to play, while the Ostapenko match was still in progress, Swiatek smiled: 'No. Am I a good liar? Let's say it doesn't matter, really. Oh my God. I couldn't play poker!' Swiatek is without a title since this time last year and has slipped to number five in the world. But the Pole has yet to run into any difficulty as she stretched her winning streak at Roland Garros to 24 matches. Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked player by some distance, is many people's favourite to win her first French Open title. But the Belarusian was keen to heap the pressure on to Swiatek's shoulders after beating Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-3. 'It's tough to predict in woman's tennis, you know,' she said. 'Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row, right? I will just leave it for her.' Sabalenka will face American Amanda Anisimova, the 16th seed, on Sunday. Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini, the fourth seed from Italy, is through after a 6-4 6-1 win over Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva Qinwen Zheng's match with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko was temporarily halted after a spectator injured themselves in the stands. The Chinese eighth seed was a set and a break up at the time and eventually won 6-4 6-3. In the men's draw, American 12th seed Tommy Paul came through his second five-setter this week, beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7) 3-6 6-3. Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti dropped the first set against Argentina's Mariano Navone but went through in four. In the night match, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz also needed four sets to beat Bosnian Damir Dzumhur. The Spaniard won 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4 and said: 'The first two sets were under control but then he decided to play deeper and more aggressive. Defending champ locks his place in R4 🔒#RolandGarros — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025 'My energy went down but I had to give everything I had inside. I'm proud to get the win in the end. 'That's why it's difficult to win grand slams, because you have to keep your focus over three or four hours.' French 14th seed Arthur Fils has withdrawn from the tournament with a back injury, giving Russia's Andrey Rublev a walkover into round four.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iga Swiatek-Jelena Ostapenko head to head will not grace the French Open this year
Welcome to the French Open briefing, where will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament in Paris. On day six, a defending champion avoided her nemesis, a world No. 1 learned of her first test, and a dirty towel caused commotion on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Iga Swiatek keeps a poker face about her head-to-head with Jelena Ostapenko — for a second anyway After four-time champion Iga Swiatek got past world No. 60 Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets, the tennis world's attention turned to the match that followed hers on Court Suzanne-Lenglen — and to the fourth-round meeting that everyone wanted to see. Advertisement Nothing against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who faced Jelena Ostapenko in the third round, but Ostapenko's head-to-head with Swiatek has developed into the most compelling non-rivalry in the sport. Ostapenko, a wildly inconsistent player who won her only Grand Slam title here in Paris right years ago, has beaten Swiatek, a five-time major champion and a world No. 1 for over 100 weeks, in all six matches they have played against each other. They have still never faced off at Roland Garros, so everything was set up to see whether Swiatek could finally end her hoodoo against the player who seems to live rent-free in her head on her favorite court in the sport. Following her win over Cristian, Swiatek has a 38-2 record through her 40 matches at the French Open, matched only by its seven-time champion Chris Evert in the women's game in the Open Era. When Swiatek arrived for her news conference after beating Cristian, the outcome of the Ostapenko-Rybakina match was not known. Asked if she had a preference about who she'd play next, Swiatek responded by saying no and keeping a completely straight face. A second later, she burst into laughter, adding: 'Am I a good liar?' About half an hour later, Rybakina finished off Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2, and with that, so many tennis fans' dream died. Advertisement A match between Rybakina and Swiatek is at least likely to be less mercurial: head-to-head is at 4-4. Hopefully, a Wimbledon champion going up against the winner of the past three French Opens will help to soften the blow of the match that never was. How did a dirty towel get in the way of a win for the men's No. 10 seed? Holger Rune started this tournament playing on Court 7. For a guy who wants to prove that he is his generation's third member of a Big Three 2.0 with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, that kind of court assignment doesn't sit all that well, even though the world No. 10 has some way to go to even approach the status those other two have in the sport. Advertisement Rune doesn't mind that assignment too much in Paris, reserving his annoyance for last year's U.S. Open, which put him on a court he deemed so unsatisfactory that he provided his fans with a map to find it. The Dane has been on Court Philippe-Chatrier for the two rounds since. He's enjoyed it, except for a while this afternoon. Partly because French opponent Quentin Halys was threatening to knock him out of the tournament, but mostly because a fan didn't like the way Rune put his sweaty, clay-speckled towel back into its box. Here's how the always-entertaining Rune tells the story: 'I put my towel down in the box, and the guy was yelling, aggressive with me. He reached out for me. I thought this was very strange, because I did not do anything against him and he should not interact with a player on the court. It's a bit embarrassing, I think. Advertisement 'I told the supervisor that I would prefer him not being there, because it was a bit uncomfortable. They said they'd check the video, and, I guess, if it was true what I said they would get him away. I guess they checked, and I didn't see him for the rest of the match.' Rune said Halys apologized to him for the partisan crowd when the match was over. 'I said, 'Don't worry. I don't think it was anything crazy'.' A non-Frenchman, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, is next for Rune in a match for the clay-court connoisseurs. A tricky test for Sabalenka? So far, it's been plain sailing for the world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament. She cruised past world No. 34 Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 Friday in the third round — and that was her closest scoreline yet. Advertisement Things should now get a bit tougher, with her next opponent being the American No. 16 seed Amanda Anisimova. She too, is yet to drop a set, and has won five of her seven meetings with Sabalenka. Four of those were before Sabalenka had won her first Grand Slam, however, and the Belarusian is a very different player now. Back then, she lacked the variety to change things if getting outgunned by the big-hitting Anisimova. But since last year's Italian Open, Sabalenka has embraced variety and touch as parts of her game, becoming a more complete player and offering her different valves for when she needs a release from her usual strategy. This next meeting with Anisimova should provide an opportunity to demonstrate how far she's come — or it could provide Anisimova the opportunity to rubberstamp what's already been an impressive return to the tour since a break to address burnout last year. A win would make this her joint-best run at a Slam since 2019, when she reached the semifinals here in Paris at age 17. What happened in the strangest match so far? A tennis fan who looked at the draw Friday morning might have pencilled Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia into the fourth round. Advertisement Medjedovic is a Novak Djokovic project, and Djokovic has said he is headed for big things. He won the Next Gen Finals in 2023, and its champions usually go on to big things – Alcaraz, Sinner, Tsitsipas. It's taking Medjedovic a little longer to get where he wants to be than it did those guys, but he had gotten off to a promising start here in a section of the draw that got more and more inviting as the first week wore on. He has some of the biggest power in the game, but also can play with an off-speed, junkballing style when he needs to. He had Daniel Altmaier of Germany, a talented clay-court player who dispatched American No. 1 Taylor Fritz in the first round, on Friday for a spot in the second week. For Medjedovic, trouble started early. He called a doctor to the court at 2-1 in the first set and had his blood pressure and vital signs examined. He continued, but something was visibly wrong for the remainder of the match, with the world No. 74 struggling to move around the court and regularly leaning on his racket. He won that first set from 4-2 down, but was able to put up only limited resistance the rest of the way, moving little, resorting to every trick he had to extend the match, hoping it might turn around. Advertisement Medjedovic has form for winning when compromised. He beat Tsitsipas on one leg after pulling a muscle deep in the third set of their match in Doha in February, hobbling between smashing winners as early and often as he could. That was just for a couple of games and a tiebreak, though. Three whole sets on a hot day in Paris is a tougher proposition. This time, in the end, it did not turn around. Those big things will have to wait a little longer. Shot of the day Sometimes. the official social-media account gets it right. French Open men's draw 2025 French women's draw 2025 Tell us what noticed on the tournament's sixth day… Advertisement This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
North Wales Chronicle
3 days ago
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Iga Swiatek's bid for fifth French Open boosted by win and Jelena Ostapenko exit
Swiatek swept into the fourth round and has yet to drop a set after beating Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5. The defending champion feared she would meet her nemesis, Jelena Ostapenko, who has remarkably beaten Swiatek in all six of their career meetings. 24 matches won in a row in Paris 🧡#RolandGarros @iga_swiatek — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2025 But Latvian Ostapenko, the 2017 winner in Paris, was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Elena Rybakina to rob Roland Garros of a grudge match for the ages in the last 16. Asked if she had a preference about who to play, while the Ostapenko match was still in progress, Swiatek smiled: 'No. Am I a good liar? Let's say it doesn't matter, really. Oh my God. I couldn't play poker!' Swiatek is without a title since this time last year and has slipped to number five in the world. But the Pole has yet to run into any difficulty as she stretched her winning streak at Roland Garros to 24 matches. Aryna Sabalenka, the top-ranked player by some distance, is many people's favourite to win her first French Open title. But the Belarusian was keen to heap the pressure on to Swiatek's shoulders after beating Olga Danilovic 6-2 6-3. 'It's tough to predict in woman's tennis, you know,' she said. 'Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row, right? I will just leave it for her.' Sabalenka will face American Amanda Anisimova, the 16th seed, on Sunday. Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini, the fourth seed from Italy, is through after a 6-4 6-1 win over Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva Qinwen Zheng's match with Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko was temporarily halted after a spectator injured themselves in the stands. The Chinese eighth seed was a set and a break up at the time and eventually won 6-4 6-3. In the men's draw, American 12th seed Tommy Paul came through his second five-setter this week, beating Russian Karen Khachanov 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7) 3-6 6-3. Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti dropped the first set against Argentina's Mariano Navone but went through in four.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Elena Rybakina thrashes Ostapenko to set up intriguing tussle with Iga Swiatek
Jelena Ostapenko has long been one of the most devastating shot-makers of her generation and every time she steps on to a court, she is there to decide her own destiny in victory or defeat. On Friday afternoon, however, Ostapenko experienced the rare sensation of not being in control as Elena Rybakina put on a devastating exhibition of her effortless, destructive ball-striking to reach the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-2 demolition of the former champion. The most notable consequence of Rybakina's victory, of course, is that she will renew her rivalry with the four-time champion Iga Swiatek in what will be the most highly anticipated match in either singles draw. In the earlier match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Swiatek closed out her 24th consecutive victory at the French Open by defeating Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5. A week after winning her first title in more than a year in Strasbourg, this victory marks another positive step forward for Rybakina. Much of her past 12 months have been extremely difficult, with the Kazakh falling from her career high ranking of No 3 to her current spot at No 11. Not long ago, Rybakina had positioned herself as the top contender to Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. In recent months, she has been her own biggest rival. Although Rybakina has been frequently sidelined with various illnesses over the past year, her issues have also been personal. In February, her previous longtime coach, Stefano Vukov, was suspended by the WTA tour for a year after the organisation concluded that Vukov had been verbally abusive to Rybakina, breaching the its code of conduct. Despite Rybakina objecting to the suspension, Vukov is banned from attaining accreditation at official WTA events and grand slam tournaments. On Wednesday, Rybakina noted that she continues to work with Vukov on court between tournaments. 'We usually practise together between the tournaments, not when the tournament is on,' she said. It has been eight years since Ostapenko shocked the tennis world by spectacularly winning the 2017 French Open, while Rybakina won her first grand slam title at Wimbledon in 2021. A battle between two major champions is always a significant event, but the prospect of a meeting with Swiatek, and their respective records against the four-time French Open champion, only added a level of significance to the tie. At this point, the match-up between Ostapenko and Swiatek is the most notorious non-rivalry on the tour. After defeating Swiatek en route to winning the Stuttgart Open title last month, Ostapenko is now 6-0 versus the Pole, having defeated her on every surface. Ostapenko is a supreme ball-striker and, when she finds her rhythm, she times the ball more sweetly than almost any other player. Even so, a player as distinguished as Swiatek having such a difficult match-up against a lesser opponent is shocking. Although Swiatek avoided her greatest nemesis, facing Rybakina is hardly a positive outcome. Their head-to-head record is tied at 4-4 and Rybakina's game matches up well against the Pole, with her powerful first serve neutralising Swiatek's return and she takes time away with her clean, flat ball-striking. As Swiatek attempts to rebuild her confidence on her favourite court after a difficult few months, this will be an enormous test in her push for a fourth consecutive French Open title. Elsewhere, the top seed Aryna Sabalenka eased into the second week with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Olga Danilovic of Serbia. Afterwards, Sabalenka said that she is happy for Swiatek to carry the title of favourite, and the pressure that comes with it, in this tournament. 'It's tough to predict in women's tennis,' she said. 'Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row, really, right? I will just leave it for her.' Elsewhere, Amelie Mauresmo, the French Open tournament director, defended the decision not to schedule women's matches during the night sessions. 'For me, the message that I always said, and I will repeat, the conditions did not change from having one unique match in the evening,' said Mauresmo. 'For me, the message is not changing, and it has never been that the girls are not worthy to play at night. It's never been this. I will not accept that you carry this message. That's really clear to me.'
