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Carreno Busta has done really well to stay in this set \u2013 he might\u2019ve gone down a double-break but now he\u2019s got a break point at 4-4 \u2026 but tamely slices a backhand return well wide down the line. It\u2019s also worth noting that Jodar\u2019s first serve wasn\u2019t up to much, but a glorious backhand winner down line \u2013 that\u2019s more like it \u2013 means the veteran has another shy at it. Jodar, though, devastates a backhand of his own to set up the forehand winner, while Bencic, who almost broke Svitolina for 6-4 2-1, is now 15-40 down, lays a drop \u2026 into the net. She leads 6-4 1-3, and I don\u2019t like her under pressure, at all.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n After a protracted struggle, Carreno Busta retrieves the break taken from him by Jodar to trail 3-4 in the first; on Chatrier, a hold apiece means Bencic leads Svitolina 6-4 1-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Swiatek, then, she was desperately poor in the second set today \u2013 her confidence, once impregnable, is now brittle, and I\u2019m not sure she\u2019ll ever get it back. Which isn\u2019t me saying she\u2019s done as factor at the top end of the game, not at all, just that the other players are no longer intimidated by her because they\u2019ve seen weakness, and they\u2019re not about to forget it. She can still win, of course, but she\u2019ll have to play well, and can expect her second serve and forehand, in particular, to face attack in pretty much every match.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Only to waft a forehand long. Bencic does not love pressure, I\u2019m afraid, but a sensational inside-out backhand lands right in the corner, seizing her another opportunity to clean up the set, and this time, a big serve out wide allows her to usher a backhand down the line. She leads 6-4.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A drop from Bencic \u2026 and it\u2019s a delight, landing just over the net, and Svitolina can\u2019t flick it back over so, at 5-4 advantage, she has set point.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Two forehand errors donate Svitolina 0-30, but an ace out wide makes 30-all \u2026 then a netted backhand means break point. It won\u2019t be easy to recover if she can\u2019t save herself, and does Svito\u2019s volley-lob fall in? Not quite, so to deuce we mooch while, on Lenglen, Jodar had to do plenty to stave off a break-back attempt from Carreno Busta \u2013 his mental game is solid as you like \u2013 and he leads 4-1 in the first.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Better from Svitolina, who breaks to love \u2013 Bencic isn\u2019t the most even of opponents, so I\u2019m not surprised she tightened trying to secure the set. She does, though, play a terrific point to make 5-3 30-all \u2026 but excellent hitting from Svito secures the hold and forces Bencic to serve for the set a second time at 5-4. Pressure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a007.54 EDT<\/p>\n Jodar breaks Carreno Busta for 2-0, then Svitolina swats a backhand wide when break point down, and Bencic is in total command of this set at 5-3.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jodar, now second-favourite for the men\u2019s competition \u2013 amazing, given this is his first major \u2013 holds in game one against Carreno Busta, a wily veteran who\u2019s made two quarters here and two semis in New York. He\u2019s beaten Lehecka, Kokkinakis and Tirasnte to get to this stage, and though I can\u2019t say I like his chances today, he knows his way around a clay court, so.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Chrissy was saying earlier that Svitolina has changed as a player since getting together with Ga\u00ebl Monfils, her husband \u2013 she\u2019s more attacking and aggressive now, and also has more power. She reckons the two practising together has had an impact, and I also wonder if his mindset has been as much an influence as his strategy \u2013 he played with joy and risk, now so does she. But can she finally make a the last four here, after losing five quarter-finals? And can she major final after losing four semis? Well she\u2019s just been broken, so Bencic, who has a slightly looser, more natural style, leads 3-2.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n We\u2019re under way on Chatrier, Svitolina holding for 2-1 against Bencic.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Next on Lenglen: Rafael Jodar (27) v Pablo Carre\u00f1o Busta.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Cirstea shares a long, deep hug with Marion Bartoli, then says it was a great match and she played really well, but at this level if you drop 1% intensity, it\u2019s a problem and Wang started to play amazing, so she\u2019s happy to close in two as it was getting hard.<\/p>\n \u201cI have the pleasure to know you,\u201d Marion says and there\u2019s clearly a lovely friendship there. \u201cSeventeen years ago, back in 2o09, you were there, at Roland Garros playing the quarter-final. Seventeen years later, it shows your resilience, your courage, your passions for this sport. You\u2019re back there to the quarter-final of Roland Garros, I have chills just saying it, can you tell us what\u2019s going through your body, your mind, your family watching it today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no expiration date for ambition and for dreams,\u201d comes back the inspirational response, and she goes on to discuss how much she loves the game and playing in front of her family and team. \u201cI think sometimes society puts us in certain goups because of the age- she\u2019s 36t\u2013 but I think in life you are free to do whatever you want and I want to play and here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh my goodness there\u2019s more, and this is really a lot, in the best possible way,<\/p>\n \u201cSorana, I had the pleasure to coach you for a little bit, i always knew you had that tennis in your bag, but when you\u2019re on the court right now what strikes me the most is your smile, your enjoyment for what you\u2019re doing and your incredible confidence level,\u201d Marion continues, before asking what her feeling is before the later stages.<\/p>\n Cirstea says she\u2019s trying to enjoy herself \u2013 she learnt a lot from Marion, a a lot of tennis IQ. She very complete player, able to attack and defend, tennis ois her passion and she\u2019s very grateful.<\/p>\n That, mates, was awesome.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Sorana Cirstea (18) beats Wang Xiyu 6-3 7-6(4)<\/p>\n Seventeen years after her first, Cirstea makes her second quarter-final at this competition. There, she\u2019ll meet Mirra Andreeva or Jil Teichmann.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Right, on Lenglen, Cirstea leads Wang 5-4 in the tiebreak, just about winning a net exchange to raise two match points.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I totally missed this at the time, but Kostyuk danced after winning the first set, not the first time she\u2019s busted moves on court, but in these circumstances? She\u2019s feeling herself.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Next on Chatrier: Elina Svitolina (7) v Belinda Bencic (11). Ouiiiiiiii!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n To add some flesh to the weight of that interview, check out this from round one. Marta is on a mission.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still in shock,\u201d says Kostyuk, saying Swiatek has won four times here and she\u2019d lost to her four times, without winning a set.<\/p>\n She feels like she\u2019s giving herself more space to create something and challenge her opponent but the main thing is trying to enjoy herself. \u201cI woke up today in the morning and all I thought about is what an unbelievable day I have to live today\u201d \u2013 what a beautiful sentiment that is, beautifully expressed, too \u2013 \u201cplay on Chatrier, play against Iga, there is nothing else I could do today than this.\u201d<\/p>\n She hopes to stay in this frame of mind, enjoying and not focusing on winning and losing. \u201cI\u2019m not playing tennis to win, I\u2019m playing because I love it, I want to connect to people, I want to feel this energy coming to the court, make people happy and unite people.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh man, what a lovely interview. I said after round one that this blog has a new favourite to join Oor Maddy and Karoline Muchova, and that is why, emotionally intelligent expansiveness can\u2019t be beaten.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Before we do her interview, let\u2019s check in on our other match, which Cirstea has now failed to serve out twice; she still leads, 6-3 5-6, but Wang, having won four games in a row, has the momentum.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n If Kostyuk\u2019s confident, she\u2019s very hard to beat, an all-round monster who\u2019s finally grown into her prodigious talent, and she\u2019s every bit as delighted as you\u2019d hope.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Marta Kostyuk (15) beats Iga Swiatek 7-5 6-1<\/p>\n An amazing win for Kostyuk, the biggest of her career; next for her, Svitolina or Bencic, and she\u2019s a serious threat to win this.<\/p>\n Poland’s Iga Swiatek leaves the court after losing. Photograph: Christophe Ena\/APUkraine’s Marta Kostyuk celebrates winning her fourth round match against Poland’s Iga Swiatek. Photograph: St\u00e9phane Mah\u00e9\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.57 EDT<\/p>\n On the one hand, Kostyuk hasn\u2019t lost on clay this year, 14 matches unbeaten but, on the other, in looking to expand her game, Swiatek has lost consistency and conviction. Very quickly. she\u2019s down 40-0\u2026.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Amazing disrespect from Kostyuk, standing way inside court to slam back a second serve via inside-out backhand; \u201cShe\u2019s lost the plot, she\u2019s lost her game \u2013 the essence of what makes her great on clay,\u201d says Chrissy as 15-30 becomes 15-40. If one of them is converted, it might well mean curtains, but Swiatek saves the first then trots in to sort the second \u2026 only to overhit her forehand, and by a bit! \u201cShe\u2019s not hitting the ball with feel,\u201d Chrissy advises. \u201cShe\u2019s slapping,\u201d and at 7-5 5-1, Kostyuk will now serve for the match.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Cirstea can\u2019t serve the match out, broken by Wang, who then holds; at 6-3 5-4, she\u2019ll shortly go again. Meantime, Kostyuk wins a net rat-a-tat-tat for 30-0 \u2013 her hands are the quicker \u2013 closes out her consolidation, and if she doesn\u2019t get nervous \u2013 a gigantic if, admittedly \u2013 a last-eight spot is hers for the taking. She leads 7-5 4-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A booming return then a netted forehand and Kostyuk has 0-30, then Swiatek goes long and, facing three break points, this could be the beginning of the end. She just isn\u2019t quite as good now as she was two years ago, but it\u2019s also the case that the competition has got a lot, lot better, a pretty forehand down the line securing the break to love. Kostyuk leads 7-5 3-1, and she knows this is her moment, growing as her more august opponent flaps.<\/p>\n Birthday not going to plan so far. Photograph: Robert Prange\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.42 EDT<\/p>\n Back on Lenglen, Cirstea now leads 6-3 5-2 and will presently serve for the match.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n At 30-all Kostyuk hammers down a big first serve \u2026 and Swiatek thwacks it back with interest, unloading on the forehand when a decent get demands she play another shot. Break point, though, is quickly extinguished with a service winner \u2026 but Kostyuk\u2019s relative weakness at net, er \u2026 costyuks her, hitting the net on the stretch. Again, though, Swiatek can\u2019t convert, a forehand falling wide as again, Chrissy chastises her for attacking lines unnecessarily, but she\u2019s purring when two big backhands restore deuce; a double follows, offering a third break point \u2026 and again, an unforced error ruins it. This is brutally tense stuff, high quality punctuated with nervous snatches, underlined when Kostyuk makes advantage then slams down an ace.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Poor footwork from Swiatek means she\u2019s lunging for a backhand, she can\u2019t keep it in court, and Kostyuk has the break back, again. She leads 7-5 1-1 while, on Lenglen, Cirstea leads 6-3 3-2 with a break.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Kostyuk, of course, won Madrid recently, and this is what happens if she takes a tournament:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Back on court, a backhand winner takes her to advantage, but Swiatek plays a decent point to restore deuce \u2026 then sends down an entirely unsurprising double.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Swiatek left court between sets and gets right back to it on her return, making 15-40 then attacking a tepid second serve, her backhand too good. Kostyuk leads 7-5 0-1, and this is exceedingly enjoyable fare.<\/p>\n Iga Swiatek reacts as she plays against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.24 EDT<\/p>\n Wang survives various break points, but eventually secures her hold to trail Cirstea 3-2 2-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Twenty-five errors and six winners for Swiatek; Chrissy says her thing when she started was consistency but, as the game changed, she had to open up and it\u2019s not quite her natural game, so she should widen the targets and not go for lines and corners. She needs to do something, because Kostyuk is winning the tactical battle, imposing the match she wants to play.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A overhit forehand from Swiatek donates 0-15, a double 0-30, and I wonder if this is what happens when you want something as badly as Swiatek does \u2013 of course all the players are into it, but there\u2019s an obsessive intensity about her that stands out even among the intense obsessives that necessarily populate her sport. Anyroad up, Kostyuk goes for two big shots and misses both, taking us to 30-all, but a second double in the game means set point and we know how the Ukrainian is going to approach this \u2026 and when Swiatek doesn\u2019t do enough with her approach, a backhand cross-court pass leaves her stranded. Kostyuk wins the first set 7-5, and the birthday girl is in trouble!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n At 40-15, Kostyuk sends down a double, then redirects a forehand \u2026 wide. A game that looked almost hers is now in the balance but she dominates the advantage point, a drive-volley forcing Swiatek to desperately try a lob, the overhead botched into the tape \u2026 but somehow it clambers over! Swiatek, though, attacks the next rally and restores deuce \u2026 but Kostyuk stands strong, quickly securing her hold, the first in four games, for 6-5. Pressure on the Pole.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n She makes hard work of it, but Cirstea serves out the first set against Wang at the second time of asking; she leads 6-3.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Terrific return from Kostyuk, a backhand hooked on to the sideline for a winner \u2026 ruined by a forehand looped long; 15-all. A double follows, the misses by far enough to intimate nerves and reinforced by a wild forehand that donates two break-back points. And Kostyuk only needs one, a decent return forcing Swiatek to net, and she looks encouraged \u2013 rightly so, that felt like a tightening. It\u2019s 5-5 in the first, and this might just mature into an epic.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEvery point is good, every point is high quality,\u201d kvells Chrissy in commentary as murderous shots are traded from the back, Kostyuk overhitting to cede 15-40. But from there, she recovers to deuce, competing like an equal; for maybe the first time, she believes she can do this, a service winner raising advantage, but then she\u2019s fractionally late on a backhand down the line and it\u2019s just a little wide, Swiatek \u2013 whose return was good \u2013 nowhere near it. And from there, the birthday girl dominates the next point with forehands, making advantage, then elicits the error for the third break in row. At 5-4, she\u2019ll now serve for the first set \u2013 just as Cirstea is at 5-3 in our other match, a netted volley ceding deuce.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n That last game was a lesson for Kostyuk: lose focus, lose the match. And it\u2019s one she seems to have learnt quickly, a forehand from Swiatek falling long for 0-40, and the pressure tells immediately, another forehand shanked wide, and we\u2019re back level at 4-4. Meantime, Wong takes one break back off Cirstea for 2-5 in the first, and looks to be settling.<\/p>\n Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk plays a forehand return to Poland’s Iga Swiatek. Photograph: Julien de Rosa\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.49 EDT<\/p>\n Back with Swiatek, from 30-0 she makes 30-40, visibly upping the pace from the back, and as a tremendous rally unfolds, the players sending each other nashing about the court, she takes control of it, a forehand winner securing the break. She leads 4-3 while, on Lenglen, Cirstea is serving for the first set at 5-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I enjoyed this from yesterday. Mo\u00efse Kouam\u00e9 is a superstar with a temperament to match.<\/p>\n double quotation markToday I lost. Maybe tomorrow I\u2019ll be winning, and I\u2019m happy because I played well. I made interesting things during the week, so it\u2019s not a loss that poses me a problem. It\u2019s a loss which I\u2019m certain is going to help me grow in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have learned an awful lot about myself, and this loss, perhaps, has given me more than the two wins. To answer your question, I\u2019m not a bad loser. I\u2019m a loser who learns from his mistakes and always tries to bounce back.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Also going on:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I can\u2019t lie, I leant my local turf accountant a small sum in lieu of Kostyuk winning this competition, and she holds easily for 3-2; if she keeps serving well, this match will come down to a few points here and there. Swiatek, 25 today, has focus and craft on her and, as I type, she marches in to attack a second serve and spanks it long; 40-15. From there, Swiatek holds to 30, and we\u2019re level at 3-3 in the first.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On Lenglen, meanwhile, Cirstea leads 4-1, and she\u2019ll be sensing a moment \u2013 her opponent has a heavily taped shoulder, making this a chance to match her best major performance, the quarters of this competition in 2009 and the US Open in 2023.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.46 EDT<\/p>\n On Chatrier, Swiatek is serving at 1-2 deuce, Kostyuk having started fairly well \u2013 the message is that this is going to be a contest, and thoug, from there, the hold is secured, Kostyuk underlines the point: she\u2019s taking this on.<\/p>\n