PARIS >> Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.

The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open — but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.

“Last few months have been really, really tough for the Ukrainian people, and last few weeks have been awful, as well,” Svitolina said. “It’s something that all Ukrainians live on a daily basis with — with the bad news. So when I’m on the court, I’m fully focused on my job, on my tennis, and try to get these wins, try to keep Ukrainian flag flying for my country. That’s what motivates me to keep pushing, to keep winning, to keep playing tennis, in general.”

She’ll try to go a step further on Tuesday, when she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who trailed by a set and a break before eliminating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women’s bracket will be No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 8 Zheng Qinwen. Sabalenka, a three-time major champ, used a five-game run to take control from 5-all in the first set and eliminated No. 16 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. 7-5, 6-3, while 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng was a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova.

The No. 4-seeded Paolini entered Sunday on a career-best nine-match winning streak, including a run to the title on red clay at the Italian Open.

A year ago, she reached her first major final at the French Open, losing to Swiatek, then also made it to the championship match at Wimbledon, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova.

Svitolina also defeated Paolini at the Australian Open in January.

What else happened at the French Open on Sunday? >> Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe reached their first French Open quarterfinals and gave the United States two men in that round in Paris for the first time since 1996. Not even one man from the country had reached the final eight since Andre Agassi in 2003. No. 12 seed Paul beat No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 15 Tiafoe defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Paul now meets No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion. Alcaraz defeated No. 13 Ben Shelton of the U.S. 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Tiafoe’s next opponent will be No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti or No. 10 Holger Rune.