Around the grounds at the Porte D'Auteuil venue as the first singles quarterfinals began
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTElina Svitolina in action against Iga Swiatek
It was the tenth day of main draw action in Paris and the focus once more was on the men’s and women’s singles with two quarterfinals in each draw completed on the second Tuesday.
While it wasn’t necessarily a day for upsets or surprises in the singles, the four results guarantee two intriguing semifinals later in the week.
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Iga Swiatek both won to set up a meeting between the two multiple Grand Slam champions on women’s semifinals day on Thursday, while victories for Lorenzo Musetti and Carlos Alcaraz mean those two in-form clay-court experts will clash in the men's last four a day later.
Sabalenka was too strong for China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the opening match on Chatrier 7-6(3), 6-3 which means the world No.1 has now reached a staggering 11 Grand Slam semifinals from her last 14 majors.
Swiatek also played a good match in windy conditions to beat Elina Svitolina 6-1, 7-5, and in the process extended her Roland-Garros win streak to 26 matches. Her overall win-loss record here is now 40-2. She last lost in Paris in the 2021 quarterfinals against Maria Sakkari.
Musetti and American Frances Tiafoe took to the main show court next and it was the Italian who mastered the breeze to continue his brilliant clay court season with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 result. Musetti now has two days to plan for his first RG semifinal on Friday after winning 18 of his last 21 matches on the red dirt.
The night match featured a clay court masterclass from defending champion Alcaraz who blew away another American Tommy Paul 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in what was the Spaniard's best performance of the tournament so far.
The big story across the wheelchair draws was a first round defeat for four-time Roland-Garros defending champion Diede de Groot as the Dutch legend lost to China’s Li Xiaohui 6-2 6-4 on Court 13.
Third seed De Groot brought a 52-match winning streak at the majors into Paris - it was her first singles defeat at a Grand Slam since 2020 at Roland-Garros.
Another four quarterfinals take centre stage on Wednesday with Americans Coco Gauff and Madison Keys meeting at 11am.
Dan Imhoff chatted to former US Open champion Flavia Pennetta about Keys’ first major win in Australia in January, with the Italian drawing comparisons to her own surprise Grand Slam title in New York in 2015.
French star Lois Boisson is back to face Mirra Andreeva with all of France hoping the wild card’s fairytale run can continue against the No.6 seed. Victoria Chiesa wonders what comes next for the 22-year-old in her detailed assessment of the world No.361's achievements.
And Alex Sharp takes a closer look at what makes Alexander Bublik tick ahead of his meeting with world No.1 Jannik Sinner to bring the day session to a close.
A highly-anticipated night match on Wednesday sees Novak Djokovic continue his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam singles title against 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev.
Alix Ramsay breaks down all three of Wednesday’s daytime quarterfinals in her preview of Day 11.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
