French Open Roland Garros WTA Quarter-Finals Round-up | Kostyuk breaks new ground against fellow Ukrainian Svitolina as Andreeva batters Cirstea

The first two women's quarter-finals were played out at the French Open with two contrasting matchups.

First up was a dominant Mirra Andreeva who was exceptional in a dominant win over Sorana Cirstea, bageling enroute to a brilliant win that put her into a second Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros. What followed was a brilliant tussle between two Ukrainians. Marta Kostyuk got the edge over Elina Svitolina after powering away at the end of proceedings to break new ground in Paris.

First onto Court Philippe Chatrier was an Andreeva on a mission. She was exceptional, putting in one of her best performances in the entire tournament to take down Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3 in a truly dominant showing.

The pair faced off in Linz which Andreeva won enroute to winning the title. She then reached the final of the Madrid Open backed up with a quarter-final in Rome. Cirstea went one better at Foro Italico, reaching the semi-final amid a win over the world number one Aryna Sabalenka. She was yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year and was eyeing up a first semi-final in this tournament since 2009.

Andreeva came out of the blocks rapidly. While Cirstea was having the season of her life, even she could not do anything about the rampant Russian who set the tone early with a break of serve. The roof was closed due to torrential rain in Paris with Andreeva adapting well to the heavy conditions.

A second break saw her soar into a 3-0 lead before backing it up with a comfortable hold. Cirstea was not at the level she needed to be at, and Andreeva pounced on it to secure a third break in the set. Andreeva dropped just four points in the final four games of the set, culminating it in only 22 minutes and sending out an ominous statement.

Cirstea got on the board at the start of the second set, something to possibly build off from. Four consecutive holds were then followed by the first break of the second set, going the way of Andreeva. The Romanian was not going to let Andreeva stroll over the finishing line, breaking back amid the first slip up from Andreeva in the match.

This was soon corrected with a third break on the spin followed by a hammer blow in the form of a hold to love. Andreeva was in full command of proceedings and just one game away from getting over the line. She did so in fine fashion to confirm a second Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros while setting out her title credentials.

The second semi-final was set up to be an absolute thriller. The top two Ukrainian players would face off with Madrid champion Kostyuk and Rome champion Svitolina clashing on the clay courts of Roland Garros. In three sets, Kostyuk prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

It was hard to predict a winner off the bat. Kostyuk was unbeaten on clay in 2026 after titles in Rouen and that WTA 1000 glory in Madrid and was on a charge. Svitolina was victorious in Rome and was one of the best players in the world in 2026, hunting for a fifth Grand Slam semi-final.

It was Kostyuk who started the brighter. She set the standard high after clinching eight of the first nine games in the set. Svitolina held to love but was 3-1 down to her fellow countrywomen. After surviving another break point to make the score 4-2, Svitolina was hanging on.

However, she went up a gear and secured a break for herself which got the match back on serve. Kostyuk was relentless. Unhappy for the match to be level again, she stole a march in a very competitive set. Two break points were created, and the latter was taken to set herself up with a chance to serve it out. She did so, but not without trouble. The four-time major semi-finalist mustered up two break points but met a resounding Kostyuk who resisted those efforts. A brace of set points too centre stage with the 23-year-old getting over the line.

The second set was a change in fortune for Svitolina. She stayed cool and collected throughout the first set despite being on the backfoot and was rewarded with a 3-0 lead in the same fashion that Kostyuk created at the start of the match.

The set was mostly dominated by routine holds of serve as Kostyuk was unable to find the breakthrough needed to get level. Svitolina was 5-2 ahead needing just one more hold of serve to level the last-eight tie. She was impatient and opted to get it done on her opponents serve instead. Kostyuk had a lot of chances to force Svitolina to see it out but was unable to do this.

A highly anticipated third set was called upon, and Kostyuk came out all guns blazing with a big break of serve. However, breaks would be the new hold with five of them starting an edgy third set.

Finally, it was Kostyuk who broke the trend with a commanding hold to love before breaking once more. Svitolina could not keep up with this high level Kostyuk was putting up. This was reflected in the final game, holding to love with some big serving. She was in disbelief afterwards as her unbeaten clay swing in 2026 prolongs, setting up a semi-final showdown against Andreeva.