Defending champion Iga Swiatek battled back from a disastrous start to beat Elena Rybakina in a three-set thriller and reach the French Open quarter-finals.
The Polish fifth seed won only one of the opening nine games before finding form to triumph 1-6 6-3 7-5 against the 12th seed.
Victory was Swiatek’s 25th in a row at the French Open as she bids to win her fifth title in six years.
“She really pushed me,” said the four-time champion at Roland Garros. “First set, I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner.
“I needed to do something to get back into the game. With her playing like that I didn’t have a lot of hope. At the end, I was able to play my game, and I am super happy.”
Swiatek will now face Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina in the last eight after her 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 success against Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini.
Later, top seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated American Amanda Anisimova 7-5 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals, becoming the first player to do so at 10 consecutive Grand Slams since Serena Williams between 2014 and 2017.
Swiatek has been nicknamed the ‘Queen of Clay’ because of her dominance at Roland Garros, but has faced questions about her form leading up to the tournament.
The five-time Grand Slam-winner has not won a title – or even reached a final – since victory in Paris 12 months ago.
Swiatek is known for her fast start in matches but was uncharacteristically sloppy in the early stages as Rybakina raced into a 5-0 lead.
The 24-year-old saved two set points to get on the board and prevent being bageled, but her opponent would soon wrap up the set inside 35 minutes.
Rybakina’s dominance continued early in the second set as she went 2-0 up, winning the first eight points, but the match’s turning point soon followed.
The Kazakhstani missed a straightforward overhead smash to hand Swiatek the crucial break back and how she capitalised on the opportunity, breaking again later with a forehand winner and taking the set 6-3.
In a closely contested deciding set, the pair traded breaks of serve before Swiatek secured the crucial one to go 6-5 up and sealed the triumph with a thunderous forehand winner.
