Key events
Before we do her interview, let’s check in on our other match, which Cirstea has now failed to serve out twice; she still leads, 6-3 5-6, but Wang, having won four games in a row, has the momentum.
If Kostyuk’s confident, she’s very hard to beat, an all-round monster who’s finally grown into her prodigious talent, and she’s every bit as delighted as you’d hope.
Marta Kostyuk (15) beats Iga Swiatek 7-5 6-1
An amazing win for Kostyuk, the biggest of her career; next for her, Svitolina or Bencic, and she’s a serious threat to win this.
On the one hand, Kostyuk hasn’t lost on clay this year, 14 matches unbeaten but, on the other, in looking to expand her game, Swiatek has lost consistency and conviction. Very quickly. she’s down 40-0….
Amazing disrespect from Kostyuk, standing way inside court to slam back a second serve via inside-out backhand; “She’s lost the plot, she’s lost her game – the essence of what makes her great on clay,” says Chrissy as 15-30 becomes 15-40. If one of them is converted, it might well mean curtains, but Swiatek saves the first then trots in to sort the second … only to overhit her forehand, and by a bit! “She’s not hitting the ball with feel,” Chrissy advises. “She’s slapping,” and at 7-5 5-1, Kostyuk will now serve for the match.
Cirstea can’t serve the match out, broken by Wang, who then holds; at 6-3 5-4, she’ll shortly go again. Meantime, Kostyuk wins a net rat-a-tat-tat for 30-0 – her hands are the quicker – closes out her consolidation, and if she doesn’t get nervous – a gigantic if, admittedly – a last-eight spot is hers for the taking. She leads 7-5 4-1.
A booming return then a netted forehand and Kostyuk has 0-30, then Swiatek goes long and, facing three break points, this could be the beginning of the end. She just isn’t quite as good now as she was two years ago, but it’s also the case that the competition has got a lot, lot better, a pretty forehand down the line securing the break to love. Kostyuk leads 7-5 3-1, and she knows this is her moment, growing as her more august opponent flaps.
Back on Lenglen, Cirstea now leads 6-3 5-2 and will presently serve for the match.
At 30-all Kostyuk hammers down a big first serve … and Swiatek thwacks it back with interest, unloading on the forehand when a decent get demands she play another shot. Break point, though, is quickly extinguished with a service winner … but Kostyuk’s relative weakness at net, er … costyuks her, hitting the net on the stretch. Again, though, Swiatek can’t convert, a forehand falling wide as again, Chrissy chastises her for attacking lines unnecessarily, but she’s purring when two big backhands restore deuce; a double follows, offering a third break point … and again, an unforced error ruins it. This is brutally tense stuff, high quality punctuated with nervous snatches, underlined when Kostyuk makes advantage then slams down an ace.
Poor footwork from Swiatek means she’s lunging for a backhand, she can’t keep it in court, and Kostyuk has the break back, again. She leads 7-5 1-1 while, on Lenglen, Cirstea leads 6-3 3-2 with a break.
Kostyuk, of course, won Madrid recently, and this is what happens if she takes a tournament:
Back on court, a backhand winner takes her to advantage, but Swiatek plays a decent point to restore deuce … then sends down an entirely unsurprising double.
Swiatek left court between sets and gets right back to it on her return, making 15-40 then attacking a tepid second serve, her backhand too good. Kostyuk leads 7-5 0-1, and this is exceedingly enjoyable fare.
Wang survives various break points, but eventually secures her hold to trail Cirstea 3-2 2-1.
Twenty-five errors and six winners for Swiatek; Chrissy says her thing when she started was consistency but, as the game changed, she had to open up and it’s not quite her natural game, so she should widen the targets and not go for lines and corners. She needs to do something, because Kostyuk is winning the tactical battle, imposing the match she wants to play.
A overhit forehand from Swiatek donates 0-15, a double 0-30, and I wonder if this is what happens when you want something as badly as Swiatek does – of course all the players are into it, but there’s an obsessive intensity about her that stands out even among the intense obsessives that necessarily populate her sport. Anyroad up, Kostyuk goes for two big shots and misses both, taking us to 30-all, but a second double in the game means set point and we know how the Ukrainian is going to approach this … and when Swiatek doesn’t do enough with her approach, a backhand cross-court pass leaves her stranded. Kostyuk wins the first set 7-5, and the birthday girl is in trouble!
At 40-15, Kostyuk sends down a double, then redirects a forehand … wide. A game that looked almost hers is now in the balance but she dominates the advantage point, a drive-volley forcing Swiatek to desperately try a lob, the overhead botched into the tape … but somehow it clambers over! Swiatek, though, attacks the next rally and restores deuce … but Kostyuk stands strong, quickly securing her hold, the first in four games, for 6-5. Pressure on the Pole.
She makes hard work of it, but Cirstea serves out the first set against Wang at the second time of asking; she leads 6-3.
Terrific return from Kostyuk, a backhand hooked on to the sideline for a winner … ruined by a forehand looped long; 15-all. A double follows, the misses by far enough to intimate nerves and reinforced by a wild forehand that donates two break-back points. And Kostyuk only needs one, a decent return forcing Swiatek to net, and she looks encouraged – rightly so, that felt like a tightening. It’s 5-5 in the first, and this might just mature into an epic.
“Every point is good, every point is high quality,” kvells Chrissy in commentary as murderous shots are traded from the back, Kostyuk overhitting to cede 15-40. But from there, she recovers to deuce, competing like an equal; for maybe the first time, she believes she can do this, a service winner raising advantage, but then she’s fractionally late on a backhand down the line and it’s just a little wide, Swiatek – whose return was good – nowhere near it. And from there, the birthday girl dominates the next point with forehands, making advantage, then elicits the error for the third break in row. At 5-4, she’ll now serve for the first set – just as Cirstea is at 5-3 in our other match, a netted volley ceding deuce.
That last game was a lesson for Kostyuk: lose focus, lose the match. And it’s one she seems to have learnt quickly, a forehand from Swiatek falling long for 0-40, and the pressure tells immediately, another forehand shanked wide, and we’re back level at 4-4. Meantime, Wong takes one break back off Cirstea for 2-5 in the first, and looks to be settling.
Back with Swiatek, from 30-0 she makes 30-40, visibly upping the pace from the back, and as a tremendous rally unfolds, the players sending each other nashing about the court, she takes control of it, a forehand winner securing the break. She leads 4-3 while, on Lenglen, Cirstea is serving for the first set at 5-1.
I enjoyed this from yesterday. Moïse Kouamé is a superstar with a temperament to match.
Today I lost. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be winning, and I’m happy because I played well. I made interesting things during the week, so it’s not a loss that poses me a problem. It’s a loss which I’m certain is going to help me grow in the future.”
“I have learned an awful lot about myself, and this loss, perhaps, has given me more than the two wins. To answer your question, I’m not a bad loser. I’m a loser who learns from his mistakes and always tries to bounce back.”
Also going on:
I can’t lie, I leant my local turf accountant a small sum in lieu of Kostyuk winning this competition, and she holds easily for 3-2; if she keeps serving well, this match will come down to a few points here and there. Swiatek, 25 today, has focus and craft on her and, as I type, she marches in to attack a second serve and spanks it long; 40-15. From there, Swiatek holds to 30, and we’re level at 3-3 in the first.
On Lenglen, meanwhile, Cirstea leads 4-1, and she’ll be sensing a moment – her opponent has a heavily taped shoulder, making this a chance to match her best major performance, the quarters of this competition in 2009 and the US Open in 2023.
On Chatrier, Swiatek is serving at 1-2 deuce, Kostyuk having started fairly well – the message is that this is going to be a contest, and thoug, from there, the hold is secured, Kostyuk underlines the point: she’s taking this on.
Preamble
Salut à tous et bienvenue à Roland-Garros 2026 – huitième jour!
Well this has escalated quickly. A jazzer of a première semaine exploded at its back end, and we begin the journey home without a clue what’s going to happen when we get there.
We begin today with what could easily develop into one of the matches of the tournament – and the bar is already stratospherically high. Iga Swiatek, the four-time champ, faces the surging Marta Kostyuk, whose blend of power and touch can, on a good day, be too much for anyone.
They’re under way now, so too Wang Xiyu and Sorana Citstea, neither of whom were expected to still be with us. Following them, we’ve Elina Svitolina and Belinda Bencic, two attacking demons seeking to move from contender to potential winner, while Mirra Andreeva, bursting with talent and desire but perhaps lacking a definitive weapon, meets Jil Teichmann, in the form of her life.
Then, rounding out the day sesh, Jakub Mensik, so impressive against Alex de Minaur, meets the lovable and maturing Andrey Rublev, while Jesper de Jong seeks to break Alexander Zverev’s heart, the German served the opportunity of a lifetime with Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner all gone. He and pressure are not friends; can he cope?
