Elina Svitolina saves match points to beat Jasmine Paolini and book French Open quarter-final with Iga Swiatek

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrating after beating Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the French Open on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on June 1. PHOTO: AFP

UPDATED Jun 02, 2025, 12:45 AM

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PARIS – Elina Svitolina saved three match points to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini on June 1 and book her place in the French Open quarter-finals.

The 13th seed roared back to upset the fourth-ranked Italian 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 in their last-16 tie.

“I still cannot believe that this match finished my way. It was a really difficult match today, Jasmine was playing really well,” said the Ukrainian.

“It was really tough for me, but I’m very happy I was able to stay composed and fight until the very last point.”

The 30-year-old will next face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek for a spot in the semi-finals. The Pole squeaked past former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.

Svitolina has never progressed further than the last eight at Roland Garros, falling at that stage four times since her Paris debut 12 years ago.

Paolini, who prepared for her tilt at the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen by winning the Italian Open earlier in May, has now fallen to the Ukrainian in both Grand Slams so far in 2025.

In the third round of the Australian Open, the Italian won the opening set before Svitolina staged a comeback and won the third set to love.

On Court Philippe-Chatrier on June 1, Svitolina forced a decider by outlasting her opponent in a topsy-turvy tiebreak after Paolini passed up three match points in the second set, including one in the breaker.

“It was extremely tough, but I’m very pleased I was able to win that second set,” said Svitolina, adding her future in the tournament had hung on just two or three points in the set which lasted over an hour.

Svitolina then built on that momentum by racing into a 4-0 lead in the third set, before serving out the win at the first time of asking after nearly 2½ hours of battle.

In another 2½-hour match on the same court, Swiatek displayed great resilience to beat Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The Pole’s turbulent 2025 looked set to hit a new nadir as she found herself a set and a break down against the 12th-seeded Kazakh.

Following disappointing exits at the Madrid and Italian Opens in 2025, Swiatek appeared to be headed for a similar result at the tournament she has dominated since her first title in 2020.

“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.”

But she showed her fighting spirit to level the second set after being broken in the first game by Rybakina.

The  24-year-old Pole racked up double faults on crucial points in the fifth game, but managed to secure a vital hold, which turned the tide of the match.

The five-time Major winner then broke to love in the very next game, before forcing a decider, which she won 7-5.

Meanwhile, 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen also continued her campaign in battling fashion as the eighth seed overcame Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 6-3 to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time.

The Chinese star will take on world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka next, after the Belarusian took out American Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-3 in their last-16 tie.

In the men’s draw, world No. 12 Tommy Paul blitzed Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to become the first American male player to reach the French Open quarter-finals in 22 years.

Paul matched Andre Agassi’s run from 2003 after Americans on May 31 equalled a 40-year-old record with five women and three men in Round 4 of the clay-court Grand Slam.

Paul also became the only active American player to reach the last eight on all three surfaces, after his 2023 Australian Open semi-final and 2024 Wimbledon quarter-final runs.

“I am very happy to get a straight-set win,” Paul, who spent almost 11 hours on court in his previous three rounds, which included two five-setters, said in a post-match interview.

“I have been playing some very long matches, so that felt really good. Shorter matches like this help a lot.”

He will next face either second seed and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain or fellow American Ben Shelton. 

That match ended after press time. REUTERS, AFP

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