Svitolina advances; Avanesyan topples Zheng at Roland Garros

Elina Svitolina, Elina Avanesyan and Jasmine Paolini won third-round matches on a rainy Saturday evening at Roland Garros, joining No.4 seed Elena Rybakina in the Round of 16 in the third quarter of the draw.

From this quarter, one of those four players will become a first-time Roland Garros semifinalist.

Svitolina sails through: No.15 seed Svitolina of Ukraine will be Rybakina's opponent in a marquee Round of 16 showdown.

Svitolina leads their head-to-head 2-1, including a win on clay in the 2020 Strasbourg final. However, they have not met since Svitolina beat Rybakina to win the bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Svitolina set up their upcoming meeting by defeating Romania's Ana Bogdan 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday. With that victory, Svitolina avenged a clay-court loss to Bogdan at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers earlier this year.

Making her 11th main-draw appearance at the tournament, former World No.3 Svitolina is a four-time quarterfinalist (including last year in her return from maternity leave) but she is yet to convert any of those opportunities into a Roland Garros semifinal.

On Saturday, Bogdan saved a set point at 5-4 in the first set with a backhand winner down the line, pushing the opener to 6-5. But Svitolina eventually grabbed the one-set lead with a powerful backhand service return.

After a 30-minute rain delay at 2-1 in the second set, Svitolina returned to court on a mission, winning four of the next five games to triumph. Svitolina converted seven of her 10 break points on the day.

Avanesyan upsets another Top 10 player: Avanesyan is the last remaining unseeded floater in the quarter. She reached the Roland Garros Round of 16 for the second straight year with a gripping 3-6, 6-3, 7-6[6] upset of No.7 seed Zheng Qinwen on Court Simonne Mathieu.

World No.70 Avanesyan is now a perfect 3-0 against Top 10 opposition in her career. She faced a Top 10 player for the first time at this year's Australian Open, where she upset Maria Sakkari. She added her next Top 10 win by beating Ons Jabeur in Miami.

Avanesyan made a surprising run to the Roland Garros fourth round last year as a lucky loser ranked No.134. This season, she was only 2-4 on clay coming into this event, but the 21-year-old has rekindled her magic in Paris.

Avanesyan did have to survive both a lengthy rain delay at 2-1 in the third set and a blistering comeback from this year's Australian Open runner-up Zheng before eking out victory.

Following the rain delay, Avanesyan used incredible groundstroke depth and footspeed to reach a double-break lead at 5-2 and serve for the match. But Zheng changed things up, deploying a bevy of excellent drop shots to pull all the way back to level footing.

The pair reached the decisive match-tiebreak, where very little separated them through 6-6. However, Avanesyan cranked a crosscourt backhand to move ahead 7-6, and the unseeded player won the following three points to close out World No.8 Zheng.

Paolini ends Andreescu's run: Avanesyan will go for another upset when she takes on Italy's Paolini in the Round of 16. It will be their first meeting.

No.12 seed Paolini overcame 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 in 93 minutes on Saturday. With drizzle coming in and out, the Italian commandingly breezed through the final set to extend her best-ever showing at Roland Garros.

After Andreescu notched the second set, Paolini came out firing in the decider, especially with her forehand, which was the shot that eventually converted match point.

Paolini had seven winners to Andreescu's four in the third set, but the Italian also forced nine additional errors in the set. Andreescu did not create any forced errors in the third set.

The 28-year-old Paolini is having a breakthrough season, peaking at a career-high ranking of No.12 and winning the WTA 1000 title in Dubai. She made her first Grand Slam Round of 16 at this year's Australian Open, and has now matched that result in Paris.

Despite the loss, Andreescu's performance this week is an encouraging sign. The former World No.4, who has been battling injuries on and off for the last few years, was playing her first event in nine months, and picked up two Top 50 wins in her comeback tournament.