Svitolina rallies past Bencic; Gauff knocked out; Auger-Aliassime, Berrettini, Cerundolo move
Paris: Marta Kostyuk delivered one of the biggest shocks of this year’s Roland Garros on Sunday, dismantling four-time champion Iga Swiatek in straight sets to secure her first French Open quarter-final berth.
The Ukrainian, seeded 15th, produced a fearless display to overcome Swiatek 7-5, 6-1, extending her remarkable clay-court winning streak to 16 matches and ending the Pole’s hopes of another deep run in Paris.
For Kostyuk, the victory represents another milestone in a season that has transformed her into one of the most dangerous players on clay. Having already captured titles in Rouen and Madrid, she now finds herself among the final eight at Roland Garros for the first time, and just one win away from a maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Kostyuk finished the afternoon having recorded her first victory over Swiatek in four meetings and one of the most significant wins of her career. The reward is a place in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, where she will face fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Seventh seed Elina Svitolina began slowly but finished strongly to beat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 4-6 6-4 6-0 and reach the quarterfinals, booking an all-Ukrainian showdown with Marta Kostyuk.
Svitolina, who is looking for her maiden Grand Slam title at the age of 31, arrived at Roland Garros in superb form after winning the Rome title by beating Coco Gauff in the final.
She was taken to three sets in her Paris opener, before easy wins in the previous two rounds to build momentum ahead of the clash with 11th seed Bencic on Court Philippe Chatrier.
17 years after first breaking into the latter stages of Roland Garros, Sorana Cirstea returned to familiar territory on Sunday, defeating China’s Xiyu Wang 6-3, 7-6(4) to secure a place in the quarter-finals and continue a remarkable late-career resurgence.
For a player preparing to retire at the end of the season, the achievement represented another milestone in what is becoming the most memorable campaign of her career. The Romanian 18th seed arrived in Paris carrying strong form and left Court Suzanne-Lenglen with a third Grand Slam quarter-final appearance to her name, and her first at the French Open since 2009.
Reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff lost in three sets to Austrian Anastasia Potapova to end to her Roland Garros title defence.
The fourth seed was defeated in the third round 4-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 by the 28th seed after being a break up in the deciding set.
In men’s section, Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated No.31 seed American Brandon Nakashima 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-6(1) to move into the fourth round at Roland-Garros for the third time in his career.
Auger-Aliassime was 4-1 down again at another crucial moment - with the scoreline knotted at one set apiece. He not only erased the deficit but also saved a set point in the 10th game of the third set to change the complexion of the match. He also came from a breakdown in the fourth en route to claiming his win in 3 hours and 48 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime’s 2026 effort matches his 2022 and 2024 results in Paris. But that’s where the similarities end, as the world No.6 enters the last 16 this time as the higher-ranked player.
Rafael Jodar continued his remarkable breakthrough campaign with a stirring comeback victory over compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta, recovering from two sets down to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros.
The 19-year-old Spaniard looked headed for defeat after dropping the opening two sets but responded in emphatic fashion, winning 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a gripping three-hour, 41-minute battle on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Elsewhere, Juan Manuel Cerundolo’s remarkable Roland Garros run continued in Paris, but only after the Argentine battled for nearly six hours to overcome Spaniard Martin Landaluce.
Cerundolo backed up his shock second-round triumph against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner with a lung-busting 6-4, 6-7(9), 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 7-6(10-8) victory against Landaluce.
Cerundolo won the final four points to rally from 6/8 in the deciding-set Match Tie-break and claim a five-hour, 57-minute win. It is the third-longest Roland Garros match since records began in 1996, while it is the longest since fifth-set Match Tie-breaks were introduced in 2022.
Cerundolo’s marathon effort against the 20-year-old Landaluce has earned him a fourth-round tussle with Matteo Berrettini.
The former Top-10 star Berrettini earlier won a five-set marathon of his own, overcoming Francisco Comesana 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(15-13). Agencies
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