Roland Garros Women’s Day 9

Iga Swiatek caught a break as Lesia Tsurenko retired after less than half an hour on court to hand the top seed a 5-1 stroll into the French Open quarter-finals.

The Polish world No. 1 has reached the last eight of the Grand Slam with titles in 2020 and 2022; she has suffered only nine losing games in four matches at this edition.

Swiatek now owns 11 straight wins at the event and boasts a 25-2 record at the major over her career..

Ukrainian Tsurenko was unable to continue due to illness.

After trailing 4-0, she was seen by the trainer on court who checked her blood pressure. She returned for a few moments before retiring.

Former Top 25 player Tsurenko, a quarter finalist at the 2018 US Open, came back on court for one more game. But after dropping serve, Tsurenko deemed herself unable to continue, and action ended after 31 minutes.

Swiatek had crushed Tsurenko just a week ago in Rome, losing just two games. 

The top seed will aim for the semi-finals when she meets up with Coco Gauff, whom she has beaten in all seven of their matches – including last year’s final.

Gauff dealt with a tricky wind on the Chatrier showcourt in a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

The US sixth seed defeated her 36th opponent ranked outside the Top 50 as she took victory in 91 minutes, backing up a win over Schmiedlova from Madrid in 2022.

The seed had to overcome a lapse as she led 5-2 in the first set but found herself locked at five-all.

“It was hard to hit through the ball on one side of court due to the wind.

“But I just forgot about the score at 5-5 and started over. I just zoned.”

The teenager who admitted to eating a chocolate pastry for breakfast one morning to the horror of her agent (“we’re in Paris..”) overcame seven double-faults but broke her opponent six times.

Double Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur plugged a hole in her resume by finally reaching a Roland Garros quarter-final.

The Tunisian who frequently breaks records for her North African country, reached the last eight 6-3, 6-1 over Bernarda Pera, taking barely an hour to advance out of the fourth round.

The seventh-seeded Jabeur played finals last season at Wimbledon and the US Open but had never passed the fourth round in Paris.

That barrier has now been broken.

“It was the only Grand Slam missing. I’m very happy with the performance, with the way I was playing – especially coming back after an injury (calf).

“I was just taking it one match at a time, trying to make it to the second week. 

“Now I’m gonna push more for the next few matches.. hopefully better than a quarter-final final here, looking for a semi-final.”

Jabeur is the first Tunisian and Arab woman to reach the quarters here and the first African in that position since South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer (1997 semi-finals).

The clay-bred Jabeur won the junior girls’ title in Paris in 2011 and claimed her first Grand Slam match win at the event six years ago.

The French-speaking Jabeur enjoyed solid crowd support during her breakthrough victory.

“There are a lot of Tunisians living in Paris, but there are Tunisians are everywhere. 

“I was lucky to see them in the U.S; even in Australia there were a few Tunisians in the crowd.

“But not only Tunisians, also the African continent at large. This is why I’m working so hard.

“I would like to give help; I would like to be present and representing that specific (African and Arab) world.”

Jabeur will play for the semis against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated Sara Sorribe Tormo of Spain 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-5, a match which took just short of four hours to complete.

Haddad Maia was the first Brazilian woman in the Paris fourth round since 1979 and is the first into a quarter-final here since 1968. 

“We were both very emotional,” the winner said. “It’s more than tennis when you play for this long, there are things that get into your head.

“I’m very happy that I didn’t give up, I pushed to my limits and I deserve this victory.”