Third seed Simona Halep looked to be on a fast track to defeat when the scoreboard showed 6-3 5-1 for fifth seed Elina Svitolina in their Roland Garros quarterfinal, but the Romanian resurrected from death by winning five consecutive games and then saving a match point to force the third set, in which she absolutely dominated, 3-6 7-6(6) 6-0.
Halep’s semifinal opponent will be second seed Karolina Pliskova, who eliminated seed No.28 Caroline Garcia 7-6(3) 6-4, the last French hope left in both the men’s and women’s singles draw. Pliskova reached her second Grand Slam semifinal out of the last three after edging a tense opening set in which Garcia recovered from 3-5, saved a set point and forced a tiebreak after an epic 11th game.
Our photographer Jimmie48 covered both Wednesday’s quarterfinals in photos, while we also have photos of Marion Bartoli, Kim Clijsters, Tracy Austin and Iva Majoli playing legends doubles today.
The other French Open semifinal will be contested between Jelena Ostapenko and Timea Bacsinszky, who advanced to the final four on Tuesday.
We could have a new No.1 after this Roland Garros. If Pliskova beats Halep in the semis, she will rise to No.1, while if Halep beats Pliskova and wins the title she’ll take the No.1 spot. However, should neither Pliskova reach the final nor Halep win the champion’s trophy, Angelique Kerber will remain at the top of the WTA rankings.
MORE WTA PHOTOS FROM ROLAND GARROS 2017:
- Tuesday: Ostapenko, Bacsinszky win first pair of WTA quarterfinals
- Monday: Halep, Svitolina make the French Open quarterfinals
- Sunday: Tearful Muguruza loses, just as three other Grand Slam champions
- Saturday: Cornet thrashes Radwanska; Wozniacki & Halep advance
- Friday: V. Williams, Muguruza, Kuznetsova lead successful day for the seeds
- Thursday: Qualifier Martic upsets injured Keys
- Wednesday: Ons Jabeur’s historic triumph, Kvitova’s loss and more
- Tuesday: Konta suffers R1 loss, Halep & Svitolina advance
- Monday: Muguruza’s good start of title defense, Mladenovic and Wozniacki battle through
- Sunday: Main-draw action Day 1 — Kerber historic loss, Kvitova’s spectacular return
- Friday: Final round of qualifying + Kvitova’s comeback announcement
- Thursday: Petra Kvitova’s practice + second round of qualifying
- Wednesday: Roland Garros qualifying Day 3 + injured players Bouchard, Halep & Wozniacki practice
- Tuesday: First day of women’s qualifying + Evian event with Madison Keys and Maria Sharapova
Makes no sense to me how and why Elina lost that match. I was very shocked and disappointed. Jelena O. all the way, baby! She’s going to hold that trophy up in the final. Oh, yes indeed she is!
It’s good to see Kim and Marion play again. Marion is really healthy now compared last year when she had to fight for her life.
Emman Damian, I’m so happy to see Marion being herself again. She’s regained weight and looks much healthier. I hope she feels much better as well.
TheRealDeal, Ostapenko is the real deal! 🙂 Imagine if she wins a Grand Slam for her first title!