Images from Day 6 of the 2025 French Open in Paris on Friday.
Swiatek stays cool to beat Cristian
Defending champion Iga Swiatek continued her bid for a fifth French Open title when the Polish fifth seed overcame Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5 to reach the Roland Garros fourth round on a steamy Friday.
With temperatures steadily soaring on the sixth day of the Grand Slam, Swiatek appeared in a hurry to escape the Parisian furnace and the five-time major winner raced through the first set on the back of two breaks.
What followed was a high-quality battle where both players tested each other before Swiatek prevailed after keeping cool in the final game of the second set.
"I'm just happy that I was super solid in that last game and did not give her any free points," said Swiatek.
"She went for it, and it was a great match. We both played nice and I'm happy with my performance."
Swiatek cooled herself with ice towels after the first set before coming under pressure from unseeded Romanian Cristian on Court Suzanne Lenglen in the second set, but the 23-year-old produced a tight hold in the third game.
Both players went toe-to-toe from there and Cristian hit a stinging forehand winner to level up at 4-4, raising her level again to hold serve two games later and prolonging Swiatek's stay on the court.
Roared on by fans, Swiatek held her nerve in a tense 12th game that had three deuces, before suddenly moving through the gears to quell the challenge of the free-swinging Cristian in nearly two hours.
Rune survives five-setter against local hero Halys
World number 10 Holger Rune had to dig deep before gritting out a 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 marathon victory over France's unseeded Quentin Halys at the French Open on Friday to book his spot in the fourth round.
The Dane had beaten Halys, ranked 52nd in the world, in another five-set thriller at last year's Wimbledon despite trailing by two sets, and it would not be much different this time.
Rune, who won the Barcelona Open on clay in April to confirm his status as a title contender in Paris, found it hard going from the start against the big-serving Halys.
"It was a brutal match. He played really well. Massive respect to him. He really put on a fight," Rune said in a post-match interview.
"I tried to change some things. First set did not go how I wanted to. I had to put more spin on the ball because of the (weather) conditions. The player who took the opportunities to be aggressive was the player who won today."
Neither managed to earn a single break point until Halys broke his opponent at 5-4, snatching the first set with a sizzling passing forehand down the line.
A Halys double fault, however, at 1-1 in the second gave Rune his own first break.
The Dane then hit the shot of the match when he chased down a second consecutive drop shot from Halys and flicked it in around the net post, before breaking him again a little later to level.
The pair traded breaks midway through the set before Halys got the better of Rune's serve again, to close out the third set.
Rune looked to have bounced back when he broke Halys to love to go 2-1 up but the Frenchman returned the favour in the very next game to level in what was turning into a seesawing clash.
Fired on by a bulging home crowd that gradually trickled into the Philippe Chatrier stadium as the match dragged into the afternoon, Halys was two points away from victory when he led 5-4 and 15-30 on Rune's serve.
But the 22-year-old kept his composure to force a decider.
A break at 2-1 put the world number 10 back in the driving seat and he never looked back, winning the last three games on the trot to book a fourth round clash with Italy's eighth-seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Sabalenka eases past Danilovic
World number one Aryna Sabalenka's French Open quest continued as she powered into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Serbia's Olga Danilovic on Friday.
The Belarusian dominated her opponent from the start and although she faced some brief resistance in the second set, she easily set up a meeting with 16th seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States.
"I am super happy with the win, Olga is a fighter and I knew it would be a fight. She played like a top 10 player; pretty soon she will be in the top 10," said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka started in ruthless fashion, racing to a 5-0 lead but Danilovic avoided the bagel by winning the sixth game on serve, going on to pull a break back.
The resurgence was shortlived, however, as Sabalenka wrapped up the opening set with another break of serve.
Danilovic put up a decent fight in the second set but there was no comeback on the cards as Sabalenka broke for 5-3.
The three-time Grand Slam champion wrapped it up with an unreturnable serve on a half-empty Court Philippe Chatrier - a common occurrence on early matches at the French Open.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen beat Canadian Victoria Mboko 6-3, 6-4 on Court Simonne-Mathieu to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the second time in her career.
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