Roland-Garros Day 8 women’s recap: Serena out, Pavlyuchenkova beats Azarenka
Your guide to the biggest stories from the women’s side at 2021 Roland-Garros as the fourth round begins in Paris on Sunday 6th June
Panoramic
- Notable results on Sunday at Roland-Garros (4th round): Tamara Zidansek beats Sorana Cirstea 7-6, 6-1, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beats Victoria Azarenka 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, Paula Badosa beats Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, Elena Rybakina (21) beats Serena Williams (7) 6-3, 7-5
- To read about Saturday women’s coverage including wins by Iga Swiatek and Sofia Kenin, and the upset of Elina Svitolina, you can click here
- To follow our full coverage of the 2021 French Open, please visit this page.
- To follow live results and to see the men’s draw and women’s draw, we recommend you follow the official Roland Garros website
- You can also check out the Tennis Majors team’s breakdown of the men’s and women’s draw
- Tomorrow’s programme at Roland-Garros will be updated here (and by the way, today’s schedule is here).
- All the practical information – how to watch the tournament, how to buy tickets and everything else you could possibly need to know – are hopefully in this page.
RYBAKINA ROLLS PAST SERENA
A nerveless Elena Rybakina ended Serena Williams’s quest for a 24th Grand Slam singles title, winning 6-3, 7-5. The 21-year-old served with poise and showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion as she reached her first major quarter-final.
PAVLYUCHENKOVA POWERS PAST AZARENKA
A full decade after she last reached the Roland-Garros quarter-finals, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has repeated the feat – beating Victoria Azarenka 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in a hard-fought match.
“A win is a win,” she told the media afterwards. “I love winning no matter how. Sometimes an ugly win is also good. But today especially was I think a very good quality match.
“Me also coming back from being a set down where I also had a lot of chances in the first, I still found my rhythm back and energy to pull it through.”
ZIDANSEK REACHES QUARTER-FINALS
Unseeded Tanara Zidansek became the first player to reach the singles quarter-finals at Roland-Garros this year, after 7-6, 6-1 win over Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.
Zidansek becomes the first woman representing Slovenia to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam.
“I started serving better and better towards the end of the first set which also helped me to save that breakpoint, which was also a set point,” Zidansek said afterwards.
“From then on it was just in the tie-break fighting for every point. Once I managed to get the tie-break, I started feeling more comfortable out there. I started feeling more comfortable about going after my shots. That showed well in the second set.”
BRILLIANT BADOSA
Next up for Zidansek is Paula Badosa of Spain, who beat former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarter-final.
“I wanted to do a good clay court season,” she told the media afterwards. “I was feeling good. I was working hard. I think my game suits quite good on clay. I was wanting it so, so much. I was working hard for it. It’s coming.
“I didn’t expect doing all these results. I was expecting doing it quite good, but not like this.”
