The Japan Times - Swiatek exits French Open, Zverev, Ruud eye quarters

The Polish third seed endured a miserable 25th birthday as she went down 7-5, 6-1 to Madrid Open winner Marta Kostyuk.

Since winning Roland Garros in her second appearance at the tournament in 2020, Swiatek had never gone more than two years without hoisting aloft the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, but after Aryna Sabalenka ended her bid to win a fourth consecutive French Open in the semi-finals last year, she has lost her unbeatable status on clay.

Indeed since last winning in Paris in 2024, Swiatek has only lifted three titles in the two subsequent seasons.

"I feel, like, for sure I lost today because Marta used the opportunity, and I was super tense," she said.

"It is harder a bit to handle stress for me in, like, (the) last year.

"So I feel like today I felt off, you know, and I did mistakes that I didn't want to do, and I wanted to play safe, but the ball flew everywhere.

"Suddenly these feelings came back, and I tried to work on it with my dialogue inside, but it was tough today. Yeah, so it all kind of went drastically down, and I played worse and worse."

After breaking Kostyuk in the first set to edge 4-3 ahead, Swiatek's serve totally deserted her and she failed to hold again as the Ukrainian hit back to claim the opener and then raced through the second frame.

For Kostyuk, reaching a first quarter-final at Roland Garros was just the latest high mark in a fine clay-court season, in which she claimed the 250-level event in Rouen, as well as a first WTA 1000 title in the Spanish capital.

Elina Svitolina next stands between her compatriot and the last four after she fought back to beat Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.

The seventh seed has reached the quarter-finals at the French Open on five previous occasions but has failed to ever go beyond that mark.

After winning a first WTA 1000 title in eight years earlier in May at the Italian Open, Svitolina's last-eight encounter with Kostyuk will pit against each other the two winners of the main warm-up events to Roland Garros.

"It's exciting. Definitely she's been playing really well," Svitolina said of Kostyuk, who is on a 15-match win streak on the red dirt.

"I feel like it's going to be an exciting battle for Ukraine, as well, you know, that there will be one Ukrainian in the semis. Yeah, I think it's really cool."

- 'Very grateful for everything' -

Sorana Cirstea continued her remarkable renaissance during her farewell season on tour as the 36-year-old bested Chinese world number 148 Wang Xiyu 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

The Romanian will face either Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva or Switzerland's 170th-ranked Jil Teichmann in what will be her first quarter-final appearance at the French Open in 17 years.

"I came into my last year, wanted to go out the front door of the sport, wanting to really do well, but I didn't really think it was going to go that well," Cirstea, who arrived in Paris at a career-high ranking of 18th, said.

"In the same time it's very beautiful. I'm very grateful for everything that's happening."

Rising Spanish star Rafael Jodar has been no stranger to lengthy matches in his debut Roland Garros campaign but the 19-year-old's five-set win over fellow countryman Pablo Carreno Busta was even longer drawn out than it would otherwise have been as the heatwave that defined the first week subsided to rain, which caused brief delays in play.

Jodar battled back from two sets down to beat the 34-year-old 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and progress to the last eight.

Later, the only two remaining men in the bottom half of the draw to have played in a Grand Slam final, Casper Ruud and second seed Alexander Zverev, will seek to continue their bids for a maiden major title when they face Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca and Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong, respectively.

M.Sugiyama--JT