Swiatek ousts Svitolina to make fourth straight Roland Garros semifinal
Defending champion Iga Swiatek View Profile extended her Paris superlatives on Tuesday, reaching her fourth straight Roland Garros semifinal and earning her 26th consecutive victory at this event.
No. 5 seed Swiatek of Poland defeated No. 13 seed Elina Svitolina View Profile of Ukraine 6-1, 7-5 in their quarterfinal meeting on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Svitolina needed 1 hour and 41 minutes to collect her fourth win in five matches against Svitolina.
Despite holding her lowest ranking since 2022 and nearly falling to Elena Rybakina View Profile in the previous round, Swiatek pulled out some of her peak play to dismiss Svitolina, who was seeking an appearance in her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal.
"Even though first set, the score looks pretty straightforward, it wasn't like that in any other games," Swiatek said to the press. "I had to fight for every point. I'm happy that I also stepped up when she broke me in the second set, and that I kept my intensity until the end."
Semifinal showdown vs. Sabalenka: The stage is now set for a semifinal clash between the two players who have locked down the No. 1 ranking since April of 2022.
Swiatek, who has spent 125 weeks at World No. 1, will face current World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka View Profile in the final four on Thursday. Sabalenka is enjoying her 41st week at the top of the rankings and ousted reigning Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in their quarterfinal.
Swiatek leads the overall head-to-head 8-4, and the clay-court head-to-head 5-1. Sabalenka, though, beat Swiatek 6-3, 6-3 in their most recent meeting, on the hard courts of Cincinnati last year. This will be their first-ever meeting at Roland Garros.
"For sure our rivalry is pushing both of us, I think, but it's not only about the level of tennis," Swiatek said. "It's about like everything, how we work, and how professional we are."
Clay-court queens: Svitolina started the day as this year's clay-court match-win leader, with 16 victories on the dirt in 2025. She won an indoor-clay title in Rouen, made the semifinals in Madrid and the quarterfinals in Rome.
Swiatek, meanwhile, entered Roland Garros without a clay-court title for the first time since 2020. However, she won that 2020 Roland Garros championship anyway, and she still has a chance to take the crown for a fifth time after closing out Svitolina's stellar clay-court swing.
Swiatek is the fifth player in the Open Era, including women and men, to win 25 or more consecutive singles matches at Roland Garros. The rest of that list: Rafael Nadal, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg and Monica Seles.
"I feel like on this court and overall, like, Roland Garros, I should always push until the end and fight for everything," Swiatek said. "Because there's more [probability] that I overcome some stuff rather than in other places. I just maybe believe it a little bit more."
Match moments: Tuesday’s first-set scoreline looks routine, but Svitolina did have three chances to break in the opening frame. Swiatek had to grind out a particularly tough hold for 4-1 to maintain her break advantage.
Once she got through that game, Swiatek and her signature forehand took control. In the next game, Swiatek used that wing to convert her fifth break point of another lengthy tussle and lead 5-1. She eased to the one-set lead from there.
As windy conditions intensified in the second set, Svitolina made her presence felt. The Ukrainian jumped out to a 3-1 lead before Swiatek regrouped, slamming rally forehands crosscourt to pull back on serve.
Still, Svitolina was two points away from taking the second set after a forehand winner gave her deuce at 5-4. Swiatek, though, was not to be denied, holding on for 5-5, then cranking a forehand return winner off of a second serve to break for 6-5.
Serving for the match, Swiatek summoned her second ace of the day to queue up double match point. Her third ace of the day followed immediately thereafter, and the Polish player was back in the Roland Garros semifinals, a place she is very familiar with.
