Alcaraz and Sabalenka enter quarters as Swiatek survives Rybakina scare
- Last updated: June 2, 2025 | 09:25
Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz won a war of attrition with American 13th seed Ben Shelton to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday.
The Spaniard emerged victorious 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 after over three hours of blistering serves and power-hitting on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Another American awaits Alcaraz in the last eight after 12th seed Tommy Paul earlier defeated Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
The four-time Grand Slam winner edged a tight first set, which produced only one unconverted break point, at the end of a lengthy tiebreak that saw both players have chances to clinch the opener.
When Alcaraz finally forced a break against the big-serving Shelton in the second set, it was enough for him to move into a two-set lead.
But once again Alcaraz failed to see out a straight-sets victory as Shelton produced two breaks of serve to edge the most open of the four frames.
The 22-year-old nonetheless bounced back to gain the advantage in the fourth set, before serving out as dusk descended over centre court.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka reached her 10th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final with a straight-sets win over Amanda Anisimova.
The Belarusian battled through a tight opening set against the American 16th seed and then needed eight match points to clinch a 7-5, 6-3 victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Sabalenka, who was the pre-tournament favourite, will face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the last eight after the Chinese star edged past Liudmila Samsonova.
Iga Swiatek kept her bid for a fourth successive French Open title alive as she fought back from a set and a break down to defeat Elena Rybakina.
The four-time Roland Garros champion, 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.”
Rybakina 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.
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.
Agencies