Elina Svitolina's quest for a first grand slam title was significantly boosted on Sunday as she reached the French Open quarter-finals and saw Simona Halep and Kiki Bertens both bow out.
Svitolina was the only top-five seed in action not to lose as she defeated home hope Caroline Garcia 6-1 6-3 to book a last-eight date with Nadia Podoroska, who was a 2-6 6-2 6-3 victor against Barbora Krejcikova.
In Svitolina's half of the draw, top seed Halep was surprisingly beaten 6-1 6-2 by Iga Swiatek and Bertens – ranked fifth at Roland Garros – suffered a 6-4 6-4 loss to Martina Trevisan.
There are now just three of the top 10 seeds in the women's draw still alive in Paris, and third seed Svitolina is the highest-ranked player left.
SVITOLINA NOT FOCUSING ON EXODUS OF SEEDS
Svitolina will be hoping it is third time lucky in the French Open quarter-finals after reaching this stage again, as she previously did in 2015 and 2017.
The pressure may increase on the Ukrainian given how many seeds have already been eliminated, but the 26-year-old is trying not to pay attention to the rest of the draw.
"Of course, I'm the highest seed left, but no one is going to give me the trophy just because I'm the highest left," Svitolina said.
"So, I have to work for it. I try to not look so much ahead."
A sunny afternoon on Chatrier and plenty of highlights to see between Svitolina and Garcia @Emirates #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter #BackInTheGame #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/9nWKs7jT3R
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 4, 2020
HALEP SEEKS COMFORT IN CHOCOLATE
Halep had not dropped a set prior to her fourth-round encounter with Swiatek, but she was stunned by the Pole, who lost only three games in reaching her first grand slam quarter-final.
However, the Romanian – the French Open champion in 2018 – was keen to take solace in a sweet treat afterwards.
"I'm not going to ruin the whole year just for a match," Halep said.
"Of course, it's not easy to take it, but I'm used to some tough moments in this career. So I will have a chocolate and I will be better tomorrow."
BERTENS: OUTSIDERS HAVING THEIR MOMENT
There was an even bigger shock on Suzanne-Lenglen as Bertens suffered a straight-sets defeat to world number 159 Trevisan.
Bertens was asked to explain the number of surprising results across both the men's and women's draws, and the Dutchwoman suggested the lack of preparation for the leading players was a factor.
"No one really has played a lot," she claimed.
"I think then you can see that everything can happen in a tournament like this."
