Elina Svitolina will face Elena Rybakina in a marquee fourth-round tie at the French Open after successfully moving into the second week.

The Ukrainian defeated Ana Bogdan 7-5 6-2 on Saturday to reach the last 16 for the sixth time in her career.

Both players struggled on serve, with 11 breaks in total during the match, but it was Svitolina who ultimately emerged triumphant after a back-and-forth contest and a rain delay, firing 28 winners.

Fifteenth seed Svitolina will now hope to halt the Paris charge of fourth seed Rybakina, who is yet to drop a set at the tournament so far. It will be a tough ask, but Svitolina does lead the head-to-head 2-1.

An all-American clash between Madison Keys and Emma Navarro on Court Suzanne-Lenglen was one of the other standout matches.

Navarro had never before reached the fourth round at a major, while Keys was a former semi-finalist at Roland-Garros.

But it was Navarro who claimed a hard-fought victory, getting the better of two tie-breaks to win 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) to book a huge clash against second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Jasmine Paolini is also through to round four after seeing off former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1 3-6 6-0.

Mirra Andreeva, meanwhile, is the youngest player to reach the French Open last 16 since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006 after beating Peyton Stearns in straight sets.

The 17-year-old raced to a 6-2 6-1 win in only 67 minutes.

Sabalenka and Rybakina had earlier completed routine victories over Paula Badosa and Elise Mertens respectively.

Iga Swiatek marked her 23rd birthday with a straight-sets victory over Marie Bouzkova at the French Open on Friday, maintaining her charge for a third successive Roland-Garros title.

Swiatek was pushed all the way by Naomi Osaka in her second-round match on Wednesday, but she enjoyed a far more serene outing on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the third round.

The world number one raced to a 6-4 6-2 win as Bouzkova struggled to match her heavy-hitting, and she could even afford to surrender one of her two breaks at the tail end of the opener.

Swiatek broke immediately at the start of the second set, setting the tone for a powerful finish to the match, her victory fittingly sealed with a thumping forehand up the line.

She will face Anastasia Potapova next up after the Russian overcame Wang Xinyu in three sets on Friday.

Data Debrief: Perfect celebration for Swiatek

Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, only two world number ones have won a match at Roland Garros on their birthday, Justine Henin in 2007 and Swiatek on Friday.

She is also the only player this century to reach the fourth round of the women's draw on each of her first six French Open appearances. 

Aryna Sabalenka swept through to the third round of the French Open with a straight-sets victory over qualifier Moyuka Uchijima on Thursday.

It only took 62 minutes for Sabalenka to secure a 6-2 6-2 win, with the second seed not being broken throughout the contest.

Rival Iga Swiatek had to come through a bruising battle against Naomi Osaka to reach the last 32 a day earlier, but there were no such complications for dominant Sabalenka against a Japanese opponent as she raced to victory.

She broke Uchijima twice in each set and racked up 27 winners in the match, coming out on top in 11 of her 14 points at the net.

The match was level at 2-2 until Sabalenka won four straight games to clinch the first set, not offering up a single break-point opportunity to Uchijima in the opener. She then had few issues closing it out in the second.

Data Debrief: Swiatek and Sabalenka set the standard

Sabalenka (60 wins) has now become only the second player to achieve 60 or more women's singles match wins at grand slam events since the start of the 2020 season, only trailing Swiatek, who has 67.

This win means she has made it to the third round at Roland Garros for five straight editions. Sabalenka is hoping to better her semi-final berth from last season, having made the final at the WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome – losing to Swiatek each time – ahead of her campaign in Paris.

Sabalenka will next face former world number two Paula Badosa in a marquee third-round clash. The Spanish player progressed after battling back from a set down to defeat Yulia Putintseva 4-6 6-1 7-5.

 

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka emphatically progressed to the second round of the French Open with victory over Erika Andreeva on Tuesday.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka won 6-1 6-2 in just 68 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the first career meeting between the two players.

There were 27 winners from Sabalenka and just nine from Andreeva, who only showed the briefest resistance with a sole break early in the second set.

But strong favourite Sabalenka, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, made an instant response by breaking back, ultimately winning five of the final six games to ruthlessly close out the victory.

She will play a qualifier – either Irene Burillo Escorihuela or Moyuka Uchijima – in the next round of the competition.

Data Debrief: Sabalenka extends first-round streak

Sabalenka has now won each of her last 15 first-round matches at grand slam tournaments, not suffering defeat at the first hurdle since a clash against Carla Suarez Navarro at the Australian Open in January 2020. 

She has also won six R1 matches in a row at the French Open, not suffering an opening-round loss in Paris since the 2018 edition.

Sabalenka will continue her bid to become the first female player to win both the Australian Open and Roland Garros in a calendar year since Serena Williams in 2015. Her record on clay this season is now improved to a healthy 12-3.

Andreeva, meanwhile, was always likely to find the going tough and won just eight of her 23 points on first serve as she was broken five times across the contest. The 19-year-old is yet to reach a grand slam second round.

Elena Rybakina began her French Open campaign with a dominant 6-2 6-3 win over Greet Minnen on Tuesday, teeing up a second-round clash with Arantxa Rus or Angelique Kerber.

Having been forced to withdraw from the Italian Open due to illness earlier this month, Rybakina made a rusty start as she dropped serve in the opening game.

However, she quickly recovered her composure to produce a powerful performance, firing off 36 winners and forcing 10 break points – four of which were converted.

Moving well throughout and excelling at the net, Rybakina converted her second match point after 74 minutes on court, ensuring smooth progress to the second round. 

Data Debrief: Rybakina ready to challenge Swiatek

Rybakina has been tipped to rival world number one Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros this year, and she now boasts a 9-1 record on clay for 2024.

Her win ratio on the surface this season stands at 90 per cent, with only Swiatek (93.8 per cent, 15-1) faring better on the WTA Tour.

Varvara Gracheva produced an eye-catching upset after sending Maria Sakkari crashing out of the French Open on Monday.

World number 88 Gracheva battled to a 3-6 6-4 6-3 victory on Court Simonne-Mathieu, claiming a notable Roland-Garros scalp in the first round.

Gracheva clinched five of six break points in an impressive fightback after falling a set down in Paris to sixth seed Sakkari.

Her reward will be a second-round meeting with Bernarda Pera, who overcame Japan's Nao Hibino in straight sets on the same day.

Data Debrief: Gracheva earns top-10 scalp

Gracheva will be bidding to make the third round in Paris for the third time in her career after Sakkari became the first big-name exit in the women's draw.

This victory against world number eight Sakkari marked Gracheva's fourth top-10 win in her career, and second win against such opponents in major events.

Naomi Osaka returned to the French Open with a bang after overcoming Lucia Bronzetti to set up a potential meeting with Iga Swiatek.

Former world number one Osaka made her Paris comeback after a 15-month maternity break, battling to a 6-1 4-6 7-5 first-round victory over Bronzetti on Sunday.

Now ranked 134th in the women's standings after her long lay-off, the four-time major winner had little trouble in finding her feet and did not face a break point during a dominant first set.

World number 48 Bronzetti responded by holding three consecutive serving games in the second set on Court Philippe-Chatrier, staving off two break points to clinch a 4-3 lead.

Osaka managed back-to-back breaks to seize a 4-0 advantage after the Italian forced a deciding set, though was forced to hold off a late comeback to triumph in the French capital.

Returning to Roland-Garros for the first time in two years, Osaka could now meet Swiatek in the second round if the defending champion overcomes Leolia Jeanjean on Monday.

Data Debrief: Osaka hot on Swiatek's tail

Among active players, Osaka (75.3%, 58-19) now only trails her potential next opponent, Swiatek (81.4%, 70-16), for winning percentage in women’s singles matches at major events.

Now 5-3 on clay at WTA events in 2024, Osaka has claimed five seasonal match wins on clay for the first time since 2019, when she held the WTA's number-one ranking.

Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek are the favourites in their respective draws to triumph at the French Open.

That is according to Stats Perform's Win Probability Model, which saw Swiatek regain her Roland-Garros crown in 20 per cent of simulations, ahead of nearest challenger Elena Rybakina (nine per cent).

The Pole is aiming to become the third player in the Open Era to win the women's singles title at Roland-Garros for three consecutive years, after Monica Seles (1990-92) and Justine Henin (2005-07).

Swiatek claimed a third women’s singles title at Roland-Garros from five appearances in the main draw at the event. In the Open Era, only Margaret Court (three out of four, 75 per cent) holds a better title win rate from main draws entered at the tournament.

In the men's competition, Sinner is the narrow favourite in Stats Perform's predictions, with his 13 per cent chance just clear of Novak Djokovic's 10.

Sinner has the highest winning percentage of any player so far in 2024 (93.3 per cent, 28-2), though third-favourite Carlos Alcaraz still has a six per cent likelihood of winning in Paris.

World number three Alcaraz has yet to reach a French Open final, but is the youngest player in the Open Era to reach the round of 16 at seven consecutive majors.

Meanwhile, Djokovic is out to overtake Court's record of 24 majors and become the outright leader for grand slam titles across men's and women's singles events.

Aged 36 years and 20 days, Djokovic became the oldest winner of the men's singles at Roland-Garros in the Open Era when he triumphed last year.

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are at the very pinnacle of the women's game, and over the past month, have been battling it out for glory on the clay courts of Madrid and Rome.

The duo have met twice in the finals of the past two WTA 1000 events, with Swiatek coming out on top on both occasions.

Swiatek needed a third-set tie-breaker to win an epic Madrid Open final, though she got the job done in straight sets at the Italian Open, as the Pole made it eight wins to three from her 11 career contests with Sabalenka.

Since 1990, only Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario have faced each other more often in WTA level clay finals (10 times) than Swiatek and Sabalenka (five), and if the top two seeds get their way at Roland-Garros, they will be vying it out for the 2024 French Open title in two weeks' time.

Sensational Swiatek hunts a treble

Swiatek, who does not turn 23 until Friday, already has three French Open titles under her belt, having won in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

The Pole is aiming to become the third player in the Open Era to win the women's singles title at Roland-Garros for three consecutive years, after Monica Seles (1990-92) and Justine Henin (2005-07).

She is one of six players in the Open Era to have won the title without dropping a set, a feat she managed at the 2020 edition. The other players on that list are: Evonne Goolagong (1971), Billie Jean King (1972), Chris Evert (1974), Steffi Graf (1988), and Henin (2006-07).

Margaret Court holds the best winning percentage in the women's singles at Roland-Garros in the Open Era, at 95.2 per cent. Among active players, with a minimum of 10 matches played, Swiatek (93.3 per cent) holds the highest winning percentage at the event.

Swiatek was 19 when she won her first French Open crown, joining Jelena Ostapenko (2017) as the only teenagers to triumph at Roland-Garros since the turn of the century.

Last year, Swiatek claimed a third women’s singles title at Roland-Garros from five appearances in the main draw at the event. In the Open Era, only Court (three out of four, 75 per cent) holds a better title win rate from main draws entered at the tournament.

Since the WTA-1000 format’s introduction in 2009, Swiatek could become only the second player to claim victory at the Madrid Open, Italian Open and Roland-Garros in a calendar year after Serena Williams (2013).

The world number one will start her campaign against Leolia Jeanjean, and has already scooped four titles this year, taking her overall tally to 21.

The omens are not great for Jeanjean. In the Open Era, the top seed in the women’s singles at Roland-Garros has lost in the opening round only once, with Angelique Kerber falling to Ekaterina Makarova in 2017.

"I feel like I keep having a target on my back, because I'm No. 1," Swiatek said on Friday.

"So, I think actually I'm more proud of what's happening right now, and winning all these titles this year already has shown that we are going on the right path."

Third time lucky for Sabalenka?

In the event that Swiatek and second seed Sabalenka meet in the final, it will be the fifth clay-court meeting between the pair as the WTA’s number one and number two, surpassing Martina Navratilova and Evert for the most meetings on the surface in the past 40 years as the WTA’s top two-ranked players. 

Given her recent misfortune against Swiatek, mind, Sabalenka will no doubt be hoping the reigning champion falters this time around, leaving her with a clearer run to glory.

The Belarusian could become the first player to claim the women’s singles titles at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros in a calendar year since Williams in 2015.

Sabalenka, who is the player with the most winners on clay in 2024 (447), has already reached four finals this season, only to come up short in three of them. Erika Andreeva is her first-round opponent.

The other challengers

It is not just Swiatek and Sabalenka that will be gunning for glory in Paris over the next fortnight.

Coco Gauff is looking to become the youngest American woman to win the singles title at the French Open since Evert in 1975, while only Swiatek (36) has won more WTA main draw matches than Elena Rybakina in 2024 (30).

World number three Gauff, who lost to Swiatek in the French Open final two years ago, could become the fourth player since 2000 to make multiple finals at Roland-Garros before turning 21, along with Kim Clijsters, Ana Ivanovic and Swiatek.

Meanwhile, either Rybakina or Marketa Vondrousova could become the fifth player since 2000 to win both Wimbledon and Roland-Garros, along with Ashleigh Barty, Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova and Williams. That's not bad company to be keeping.

Having reached three grand slam finals across 2022 and 2023, Ons Jabeur has endured a frustrating season so far, dropping to world number nine just ahead of 2017 champion Ostapenko, heading into what promises to be an enthralling battle.

Rafael Nadal will begin his French Open campaign against fourth seed Alexander Zverev, as the 14-time champion approaches what will likely be his final tournament at Roland-Garros.

Nadal has repeatedly said he plans to call time on his glittering career at the end of 2024, having struggled with hip and abdominal injuries in recent years.

His 14 titles in the French capital are four more than any other man has won at a specific major, with Novak Djokovic triumphing 10 times at the Australian Open.

The Spaniard, who has missed the last four majors, arrived at Roland-Garros on Monday and faces a tough opening assignment.

He will face world number four Zverev – who won the Italian Open last week – for a place in the second round, where David Goffin or Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard awaits.

Nadal faced Zverev en route to his last grand slam triumph at the 2022 French Open, the German being forced to retire due to an ankle injury over three hours into a gruelling semi-final matchup.

Novak Djokovic starts his title defence against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, as he looks to fend off competition from Jannik Sinner for top spot in the ATP Rankings.

Australian Open winner Sinner will face Christopher Eubanks first up, while third seed Carlos Alcaraz begins against a qualifier.

Like Nadal, Andy Murray is likely featuring at the French Open for the final time, and he has been drawn to face 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in a huge first-round encounter. 

In the women's draw, Iga Swiatek starts her bid for a third straight French Open crown against either a qualifier or a lucky loser, with Naomi Osaka a potential second-round opponent if the former world number one can overcome Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti.

Coco Gauff is on the same side of the draw as Swiatek, while second seed Arnya Sabalenka begins against Erika Andreeva in the other half, with Elena Rybakina her forecasted semi-final opponent. 

Emma Raducanu will return to action at the Nottingham Open, as she steps up her return to action ahead of Wimbledon.

The 21-year-old withdrew from the French Open after instead choosing to prepare for the grass-court season.

On Wednesday, Raducanu was confirmed as a participant in Nottingham, with the tournament starting on June 8, three weeks prior to the start of Wimbledon.

The former US Open champion has played at the event twice before, but lost to Harriet Dart in 2021 and withdrew due to injury from a match against Viktorija Golubic the following year.

Beatriz Haddad Maia and Madison Keys have both progressed to the quarter-finals of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

American Keys, seeded fourth, surged clear of China’s Wang Xinyu in a dominant second set to prevail 7-5 6-0, only being broken once in the match.

Haddad Maia, meanwhile, fought back from losing the first three games to defeat Emma Navarro 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in a keenly contested battle.

Second seed Haddad Maia will face Liudmila Samsonova in the last eight, while Keys will take on either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Magda Linette at the WTA 500 event.

Top seed Marketa Vondrousova and two-time tournament winner Elina Svitolina are among the other players due to play later on Wednesday.

Data Debrief: Haddad Maia shows resilience

The battling win for Haddad Maia lasted two hours and 16 minutes, with Navarro pushing the Brazilian all the way.

Navarro forced 17 break points on Haddad Maia’s serve across the two sets and converted six of them, but still fell to defeat.

Haddad Maia now leads the head-to-head against Navarro 2-1, having also beaten her at the Madrid Open last month as part of her run to the last eight in Spain.

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from French Open qualifying, which starts on Monday.

Having endured an injury-hit few years since her 2021 US Open triumph, Raducanu was able to enter the year's second grand slam with a protected ranking of 103rd.

However, that was not enough to put her on the automatic entry list and she was not awarded a wildcard, making her third alternate for the women's draw.

No reason has been given for Raducanu's withdrawal from next week's qualifying tournament, and she can now only feature at Roland-Garros if three players drop out.

Raducanu was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open last month, subsequently saying she was "mentally and emotionally exhausted".

A host of withdrawals meant she did not have to go through qualifying for the Australian Open earlier this year, though she was beaten by China's Wang Yafan in the second round. 

Raducanu has not made it past the second round in six major appearances since her triumph at Flushing Meadows, and she missed the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last year after undergoing wrist and ankle surgeries.

Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.

The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.

The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.

However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.

Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.

Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.

Data debrief

Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.

In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.

The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 7-5 6-2 to set up yet another meeting with Iga Swiatek at the Italian Open.

Having defeated Collins en route to the final of the Madrid Open, which she lost to Swiatek, Sabalenka repeated the trick with a straight sets win over the American in Thursday's semi-final.

And the Belarusian's reward will be an immediate rematch with Swiatek.

The duo have met 10 times, including in Madrid earlier this month, with Swiatek winning seven times and Sabalenka claiming three victories.

This will be Sabalenka's first appearance in the Italian Open final.

She is the sixth player, along with Simona Halep (2017), Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013), Ons Jabeur (2022), and Swiatek (2024) to have reached the final of both Madrid and Rome in the same season.

Data Debrief: Perfect record

Collins is the only player against whom Sabalenka has registered six wins without a loss in WTA events, while only against Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens does she have more wins in her career in such events (seven each).

The final will mark the fourth meeting on clay between Swiatek and Sabalenka as world number one and two, equalling Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most meetings on the surface as the WTA's top-two ranked players.

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