This month's Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova won a barnburner over Elina Svitolina at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday, but 2024 Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini was upset by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
No.9 seed Krejcikova of the Czech Republic battled into the quarterfinals with a 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 victory over Ukrainian flagbearer Svitolina, the Olympic bronze medalist from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Krejcikova needed 2 hours and 48 minutes to grind past Svitolina, charging back from a break down at 2-0 in the final set.
Former World No.2 Krejcikova has now won 10 straight tour-level singles matches. She turned her year around by winning her second Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon less than a month ago ranked No.32, and she rose back into the Top 10 afterwards.
Krejcikova had previously beaten Svitolina en route to her first Grand Slam singles title, which came at this very site at the 2021 French Open. Svitolina, meanwhile, suffered only her second loss in her last nine Olympic singles matches.
Krejcikova is hoping to add more medals to her Olympic collection. She teamed with Katerina Siniakova to win the gold medal in women's doubles at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Schmiedlova stuns in upset: Concurrently, Slovakia's Schmiedlova posted a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 upset of No.4 seed Paolini of Italy. Schmiedlova is the only Slovak in any tennis event at this year's Olympics, and she now finds herself in the singles quarterfinals ranked World No.67.
Former Top 30 player Schmiedlova had lost six of her seven previous meetings against Paolini. But on the clay of Paris, Schmiedlova upended that head-to-head with a two-and-a-half-hour win over this year's French Open and Wimbledon finalist.
Paolini served for the match at 5-4 in the third set before Schmiedlova picked off the next three games to prevail.
It is only the second Top 10 win of Schmiedlova's career. Her previous Top 10 win also came over an Italian at an Olympic Games, when she toppled Roberta Vinci at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro event.
Roland Garros is a site where Schmiedlova has already tasted previous success. She reached her first career Grand Slam Round of 16 here at the French Open last year.
Schmiedlova and Krejcikova will now square off in the quarterfinals, with a spot in the medal rounds on the line. They have never met at the professional level, but Schmiedlova beat Krejcikova two times in juniors.
Kostyuk topples Sakkari: Despite Svitolina's loss, Ukraine will still have a representative in the women's singles quarterfinals. No.12 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine squeaked past No.7 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
It was another marathon clash in Paris on Tuesday afternoon, with Kostyuk needing 2 hours and 49 minutes to outlast former World No.3 Sakkari. Kostyuk was down an early break in the third set before she took the decider, where seven games went against serve.
Kostyuk will now face No.13 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia for a spot in the medal rounds, after Vekic shocked No.2 Coco Gauff earlier on Tuesday. Vekic won their only previous meeting, a 7-5, 6-4 victory on these very grounds at this year's French Open.
More to come...
