French Open: Iga Swiatek survives three-setter to overcome Elena Rybakina

By SABC Sport
2nd June 2025

Iga Swiatek needed three sets, but she kept her French Open title defence hopes alive when she edged Elena Rybakina in Paris on Sunday.

The Polish great prevailed 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 over world No. 11 Rybakina in a last 16 thriller lasting two and a half hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Swiatek looked in danger of a heavy defeat when she trailed 1-6, 0-2 as Rybakina was at her devastating best in the first nine games.

The world No. 5 broke back in the fourth game of the second set before staving off three break points in the fifth game en route to turning the set around.

In the deciding set, Swiatek broke to take a 4-3 lead, but she was pegged back as Rybakina took a 5-4 lead.

Swiatek showed her champion's mentality, though, as she won the final three games to seal a hard-fought triumph against the 2022 Wimbledon champion.

In her on-court interview, Swiatek said: "Well, it was tough. First set, I felt like I'm playing against Jannik Sinner. Elena really pushed me.

"I needed to do something to get back into the game and honestly, with her playing like that, I didn't have a lot of hopes (laughs), but I just kept fighting and I'm happy that I did that because every game I felt like I could loosen up even more. And at the end, I was able to play my game, so I'm super happy."

Asked by Mats Wilander if she started to play with more spin, Swiatek explained: "That was the plan from the beginning, but I didn't feel like she gave me any space to do that. It was a really great level.

"It's always the plan, so I'm happy that when I had opportunity to start doing that, I did it and I was patient enough to stay in the game and stayed focused."

Swiatek, who is the three-time reigning French Open champion, has become just the third woman to amass a 25-match winning streak at the event.

The five-time major winner has emulated tennis legend Monica Seles, who won the same number of consecutive Roland Garros matches across four appearances between 1990 and 1996 (she did not play between 1993-1995).

Seven-time French Open winner Chris Evert won a record 29 successive matches at the clay-court Grand Slam across five appearances between 1974 and 1981 (she did not play in 1976-1978).

Swiatek will face world No. 14 Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals after the 30-year-old Ukrainian saved three match points in a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 win against fourth seed Jasmine Paolini.