World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka brushes aside Naomi Osaka to reach quarterfinal
Paris: Marta Kostyuk battled past compatriot Elina Svitolina in the first all-Ukrainian women’s quarterfinal at a Grand Slam in the Open era to reach her maiden major semifinal and set up a clash with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva at the French Open on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Kostyuk overcame a spirited fightback from Svitolina to prevail 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 and extend her unbeaten run on clay this season to 17 matches.
Former world No 3 Svitolina’s wait for a first Roland Garros semifinal continued as she suffered a sixth quarterfinal defeat in Paris.
Earlier, eighth seed Andreeva stormed into her second French Open semifinal with a commanding 6-0, 6-3 victory over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
The 18-year-old needed less than an hour to dismiss the veteran Romanian and avenge the disappointment of her quarterfinal exit at the same stage last year.
Meanwhile, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka brushed aside four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in a high-profile fourth-round clash to move into the quarterfinals.
Sabalenka improved her head-to-head record against Osaka to 3-1 and later remarked that the atmosphere generated by the women’s night match should encourage organisers to schedule more such contests.
