Iga Swiatek's dream of a fifth French Open title has been shattered on her 25th birthday by an inspired Marta Kostyuk, ensuring Roland Garros will crown a brand new women's champion.
And as the boilovers kept coming at Roland Garros on the second Sunday, the prospect of the 2026 victor being the first ever Ukrainian grand slam singles winner also grew with Elina Svitolina continuing her hot form to reach the quarter-finals.
Arguably, the only disappointment for the Ukrainian challenge was that Madrid Open winner Kostyuk and Italian Open champ Svitolina, who've both been stand-outs on the clay-court circuit over the past month, must play each other in the quarter-finals.
Svitolina didn't see it that way, though. "There's going to be Ukraine in the semi-finals, so it's already amazing," she beamed after rallying past former Olympic champ Belinda Bencic 4-6 6-4 6-0.
