Svitolina playing love match for France
Elina Svitolina knocked Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia out of Roland Garros on Sunday but insisted she was also playing for France due to her romance with national number one Gael Monfils.
Ukraine's Svitolina, the highest seed left in the tournament after the exit of Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova, made the quarterfinals for a third time with her 6-1, 6-3 win.
Monfils, the world number nine, was a first round casualty.
"Right now I'm thinking I'm playing for both of us," said Svitolina.
"I know how much he loves to compete here in Paris and how much he loves to play in front of big crowds.
"Unfortunately this year it's a bit different. So it's really sad that he couldn't play his best."
Svitolina, 26, and 34-year-old Monfils started dating almost two years ago and have even given themselves a common identity which dots their frequent social media updates -- 'G.E.M.S.' which meshes 'Gael', 'Elina', 'Monfils' and 'Svitolina'.
"I always love the way that he pushes me to be better, and I also try to motivate him to be better person, better tennis player," said Svitolina.
"I think this is the way that it has to be, and you have to really support each other and push for better results."
They share near-misses at the Grand Slams.
Both have twice reached semifinals -- Monfils at Roland Garros in 2008 and the US Open in 2016. Svitolina fell at last-four stage at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019.
Trevisan, Sinner flying the Italian flag
Martina Trevisan and Jannik Sinner, two names you might not have known too much about prior to this week.
Now, thanks to their exploits, Italy will have a player in the quarterfinals of both the men's and women's singles at a major for just the second time in the Open Era.
Trevisan, currently ranked world No.159, dispatched fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4. The 26-year-old had never tasted victory at Grand Slam level before this week and had endured 16 straight defeats to top 100 opposition.
Now, having edged Coco Gauff and saved two match points against Maria Sakkari on Friday night, Trevisan is in dreamland.
As for Sinner, the 19-year-old is the most calm and composed guy you'll ever see, his tennis is so smooth and strategically sound.
The world No.75 teenage talent was in command 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against sixth seed Alexander Zverev to become the first man to make the last eight on their Roland-Garros debut since Nadal in 2005.
Next up for Sinner, it's Rafael Nadal. Can Sinner strike on centre stage?
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