Court Philippe-Chatrier, first match
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs Zheng Qinwen (8)
Four matches won; a quarter-final to come. So far so good for Zheng Qinwen. She has now extended her winning run on the clay courts of Roland Garros to 10 successive victories.
How so? Because she won six matches to take the Olympic gold medal here last August and it is the memory of that that has helped propel her to her first quarter-final at Roland Garros.
Known as a hard court player, she has tried for the past three years to get to grips with the clay and now, in her fourth campaign, she seems to have mastered it. She had a tough, three-set, near three-hour battle with Liudmila Samsonova on Sunday but with memories of Olympic glory spurring her on, she got the job done.
“I've been trying every year [to reach the quarter-finals],” she said. “Even today I still remember the Olympic Games moment on court. I say to myself during the match, ‘Keep fighting, just keep going on, don't look at the score, and let's see what's going to happen’. At the end I get the match today.”
She will have to fight tooth and nail again against Aryna Sabalenka if she wants to go any further, though. She trails their head-to-head record 1-6 but her one win did come on clay in Rome just over two weeks ago. That said, Sabalenka has not dropped a set yet and has only lost 18 games so far. And the world No.1 is clearly planning to show no mercy to her Chinese rival.
“I want to get my revenge,” Sabalenka said. “I want to get this win after Rome, so I'm happy to face her in the quarters.”
Court Philippe-Chatrier, second match
Elina Svitolina (13) vs Iga Swiatek (5)
This should be interesting as much for the reaction of the crowd as for the tennis.
Elina Svitolina, as everyone knows, is Mrs Gael Monfils and as such has been adopted as an honorary Frenchwoman by the thousands who flock to Roland-Garros. She is also a proud and emotional spokesperson for the people of Ukraine and for that, she gets everyone’s support.
But Paris is also home to a large Polish community and if they get their hands on some tickets, they will be raising the roof in their very vocal backing of Iga Swiatek.
On court, Swiatek usually takes command in their encounters (she has won three of their four meetings) but in the only Grand Slam showdown, also a quarter-final, it was Svitolina who won in three sets. That was at Wimbledon two years ago on Iga’s least favourite surface. This is clay and her favourite court. This may well be different.
Court Philippe Chatrier, third match
Lorenzo Musetti (8) vs Frances Tiafoe (15)
Frances – or Big Foe must be delighted that he is playing a man ranked above him. He is good at playing them; it is the other men he usually struggles against.
Yet this past week he has moved past his lower-ranked opponents without dropping a set. That has given him a whole new wave of confidence.
“That's not really my concern, playing the best guys in the world,” he said. “I don't fear them. I don't really feel like their level is so much better than mine. I know what I can do on a given day, but winning matches like these [he beat Daniel Altmaier on Sunday], that's what gives me a ton of confidence. That's always been my Achilles heel and something I'm clearly really happy about right now.”
He will also be extremely happy to remember that he has won three of his five meetings with Musetti including the last one in Cincinnati last year.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
©Julien Crosnier / FFT