Attention is ramping up again on the French Open’s scheduling, with the night session so far exclusively featuring men’s matches.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo had to apologise last year after saying men’s matches had more appeal as a justification for only one women’s match featuring in the 10 prime-time sessions across the fortnight.
The French Open is unique among the grand slams in having only one match in its late slot and, in the first five days, that will be a men’s contest every time.
With fifth seed Caroline Garcia bowing out on Wednesday, the chances of a women’s match making the cut have reduced further, and former finalist Sloane Stephens hit out after her 6-2 6-1 win over Varvara Gracheva.
“I’m on the player council and we’ve had a lot of conversations about this and we’ve had a lot of conversations about equality,” said the American. “Four out of four men’s matches. That’s not what we talk about. That’s not what we’re about.”
Garcia’s 4-6 6-3 7-5 loss to Russian Anna Blinkova was a major blow to the home country.
Blinkova, ranked 56, had never beaten a top-five player before but battled back from a set down to triumph, finally taking her ninth match point.
Garcia was left hugely frustrated by her failure to seize the initiative, saying: “Sometimes when I’m on the court, I don’t dare go to the net. I don’t dare pummel through my balls. And the greatest regrets I have is that I don’t up my game when I should.
“My backhand is bad. Everything is bad. And this is what is tough to digest right now.”
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka was not at her best in the opening set against qualifier Iryna Shymanovich but finished strongly to win 7-5 6-2.
In her press conference, the Belarusian refused to answer questions about her previous support for president Alexander Lukashenko in a heated exchange with a Ukrainian journalist.
Former world number three Elina Svitolina continued to impress in her comeback grand slam, taking inspiration from husband Gael Monfils as she saw off Australian Storm Hunter 3-6 6-3 6-1.
Less than 11 hours after completing an emotional five-set win over Sebastian Baez, Monfils was back at Roland Garros cheering on Svitolina.
“I watched him, but not live, I was screaming in my room,” said the Ukrainian. “It was an unbelievable match. I don’t know what he is doing here now, I think he should be resting, but I’m really thankful for him coming to support me, especially in this tough match.”
Svitolina is playing her first slam in more than a year following the birth of baby Skai last October.
The new mother and father are juggling the day job with childcare, and Svitolina said: “It’s the first tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament, and Skai is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special.
“So far everything is going well and we really enjoy our time off the court together and on the court we try to be focused and play as good as we can.”
Svitolina is also having to put to one side thoughts of the troubles in her homeland and is using the situation to inspire her on court.
She said: “When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine. And me, I’m fighting here on my own frontline.
“I cannot be sad. I cannot be distracted in some ways. I’m just going to lose. I have a flag next to my name so I’m fighting for my country, and I’m going to do that each time I step on the court.”
Third seed Jessica Pegula had an untaxing afternoon, taking the first set 6-2 against Camila Giorgi before the Italian pulled out.
Ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced the shot of the tournament so far, a fizzing tweener winner, in a 6-3 6-4 victory over former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, while 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko lost out 6-3 1-6 6-2 to American Peyton Stearns.
Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez, the young Canadian beaten in the US Open final by Emma Raducanu in 2021, is close to dropping out of the top 100 after losing to her former junior rival Clara Tauson.
Sabalenka overcomes injury concerns to reach Rome semi-finals
Aryna Sabalenka is through to her second Italian Open semi-final after a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday.
The Belarusian, who recovered from a lower back injury sustained in her previous match against Elina Svitolina, breezed through 6-2, 6-4 after just 72 minutes on the court.
Sabalenka broke her serve in the third and fifth games, with Ostapenko opening the door with two double faults, while a single break in the seventh game settled the second set.
The second seed almost let it slip with her only double fault but came back with two big serves to close out the win.
Sabalenka will face Danielle Collins or Victoria Azarenka in the semi-final on Friday.
Data Debrief: Top 10
Sabalenka (10) has become only the second player to reach 10 or more WTA-1000 semi-finals since the start of the 2020 season, along with Iga Swiatek (16).
With Sabalenka joining Swiatek and Coco Gauff, it is the first time the WTA’s top three players have reached the semi-final at the same WTA event since Roland Garros in 2013 – excluding the WTA Tour Finals.
Sabalenka has spent the most time out on the court in WTA clay events in 2024, with this match bringing her up to 25 hours and 34 minutes.
Gauff sets up Swiatek semi-final meeting after downing Zheng in Rome
Coco Gauff will have the chance to down world number one Iga Swiatek after progressing to the Italian Open semi-finals with Tuesday's victory over Qinwen Zheng.
The 20-year-old breezed into the last-four draw in Rome after her straight-sets victory over Zheng, winning 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Gauff faced just one break point throughout the match, failing to hold her serve at 5-3 up as seven-seed Zhen battled back in the first set.
Yet Gauff eased through the tie-break and never looked back from there on, teeing up a meeting with Swiatek, who overcame Madison Keys in straight sets in her quarter-final clash.
Data Debrief: Young Gauff powers on
No player has won more matches than Gauff (61) in WTA-1000 events before turning 21, since the introduction of the format in 2009, as the American moved past Caroline Wozniacki (60) with victory here.
Wozniacki (eight) is also the only player to manage more WTA-1000 semi-final appearances before her 21th birthday, with Gauff's last-four qualification here taking her onto six – one ahead of Swiatek.
Medvedev's Italian Open title defence ended by Paul in Rome
Tommy Paul stunned defending champion Daniil Medvedev at the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Paul needed just one hour and 13 minutes to down Medvedev 6-1 6-4 to secure his first victory over a top-20 opponent and reach the quarter-finals.
Medvedev could not get going from the start, and was broken in all three of his service games in the opening set as Paul cruised into the lead.
And even after a brief resurgence at the start of the second set, Medvedev could not prevent his opponent from reeling off four successive games to pave the way for a memorable win.
Paul, who is into his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on clay, will face Hubert Hurkacz for a place in the last four.
Data Debrief: Zverev brings up 10th Masters QF
While Medvedev crashed out, Alexander Zverev had no such trouble, as he claimed a straight sets win over Nuno Borges.
Zverev has now equalled Michael Chang in 10th place for the most quarter-finals made (28) in ATP Masters 1000 events since the format's introduction in 1990.
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