Svitolina saves three match points to oust Paolini at Roland Garros

No. 13 seed Elina Svitolina pulled off a remarkable comeback to end Rome champion Jasmine Paolini's nine-match winning streak in the Roland Garros fourth round, overturning a 6-4, 4-1 deficit and saving three match points to advance 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 in 2 hours and 24 minutes.

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Svitolina had also come from a set down to defeat Paolini in their only previous meeting, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in this year's Australian Open third round. In the rematch, she came even closer to defeat -- but once again flipped the script to pull away in the third set. It marks the first time that the 30-year-old has won from match point down since she fended off two to defeat Petra Kvitova 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2 in the 2021 Stuttgart quarterfinals.

The result continues Svitolina's strong form on clay this year -- her record on the surface in 2025 is 18-2, including her 18th career title in Rouen in April. The hallmark of the Ukrainian's run in Paris so far has been resilience, though: prior to her escape against Paolini, she had to come through tight two-setters to defeat Anna Bondar 7-6(4), 7-5 and Bernarda Pera 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Svitolina is the second player to win from match point down at Roland Garros this year following Madison Keys, who also staved off three to defeat Sofia Kenin in the third round.

Svitolina advances to her 13th Grand Slam quarterfinal, fifth at Roland Garros and fifth since returning from maternity leave in 2023. She will bid to make the last four in Paris for the first time against either No. 5 seed Iga Swiatek or No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina.

Anatomy of a comeback: The first two sets saw both players deliver top-quality tactical, aggressive tennis, each raising their games in response to the other. Paolini's forehand was on song at the start of the match, and she twice went up a break in the first set; Svitolina pegged her back both times with superb returning. Along the way, the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd were delighted by hot shots such as as an exquisite angled Paolini half-volley, taken off her shoelaces.

With the set on a knife-edge at 4-4, Paolini was the one to step up, holding to love then finding another series of scorching forehands to break. She would win six out of seven games as she maintained her momentum in the second set, advancing to 4-1 and then 5-3.

A backhand down the line and Svitolina is in the quarter-finals 🚀#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/nQSKsG7AXr — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2025

But with her back to the wall, Svitolina raised her game in turn. She fired a backhand pass to break Paolini as the Italian served for the match, then saved two match points on her own delivery to level at 5-5. A comparatively scrappy tiebreak saw both players lapse into error for the first time, but Svitolina stayed on the front foot to strike crucial winners as well -- most importantly, a bold move forwards and neat volley putaway to save a third match point trailing 6-5.

There was no let-up from Svitolina as she rolled through the third set, keeping her aggression levels high as she tallied 37 winners in total. By contrast, Paolini's forehand -- so strong at the start of the contest -- had begun to go awry in the tiebreak, and continued to let her down in the decider. Having fired 34 winners to 25 unforced errors in the first two sets, Paolini committed 10 unforced errors to only four winners in the third.

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