Paris, FRANCE— Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina (KAZ) and Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) were among the seven Team Yonex stars who reached the fourth round of the women’s singles at Roland-Garros.
While Rybakina is a former quarterfinalist at the clay-court Grand Slam and Vondrousova has previously appeared in the Paris final, the other five Team Yonex players who reached the second week did so for the first time. Remarkably, three of these Yonex ambassadors are unseeded, including one woman whose journey started in the qualifying draw. With all the success in the first week for Team Yonex, almost half of the women who advanced to the last 16 at Roland-Garros had chosen to play with Yonex racquets.
Emotional wins for Team Yonex stars
Emotions were high in Paris with qualifier Olga Danilovic (SRB) in tears after
winning an all-Yonex match against Donna Vekic (CRO), with her 0-6, 7-5, 7-6(8) victory taking more than three hours. Danilovic, who had defeated Danielle Collins in the previous round, became the first Serbian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam in nine years. "I practice for these kinds of moments," said Danilovic, who went through an all-Yonex fourth-round match with Vondrousova.
Unseeded Clara Tauson (DEN) was almost moved to tears after her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Sofia Kenin, a former Australian Open champion and former Roland-Garros finalist. “It feels amazing, honestly,” Tauson said after beating a Grand Slam champion for the second match in succession, having defeated a former Roland-Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko, a round earlier.
Across Roland-Garros, Team Yonex stars were experiencing the greatest moments of their tennis careers. The Paris crowd sang the French national anthem, ‘La Marseillaise’, after Varvara Gracheva (FRA) defeated Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3.
"I will remember that moment until the end of my life. I couldn't believe what a wonderful atmosphere it was,” said Gracheva, the only Frenchwoman to make it to the fourth round.
One of the five Team Yonex stars who reached the last 16 in Paris for the first time was Jasmine Paolini (ITA), who had a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Bianca Andreescu, a former US Open champion. Another was Emma Navarro (USA), who defeated Madison Keys 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to go deeper into the Roland-Garros draw than ever before.
Rybakina and Vondrousova on the move
Head-to-toe Yonex ambassador Rybakina, who won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2022, edged closer to securing her second major with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Belgium’s Elise Mertens, propelling her into the fourth round. Vondrousova, the Wimbledon champion in 2023, advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Chloe Paquet.
Head-to-toe ambassadors Ruud and Hurkacz reach the last 16
Once again, Casper Ruud (NOR) showed how devastatingly brilliant his game can be on a clay court. A finalist in Paris for the last two years, the head-to-toe Yonex ambassador secured his spot in the fourth round of the men’s singles after a hard-fought victory against Tomas Martín Etcheverry (ARG) in four sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. Head-to-toe Yonex Yonex ambassador Hubert Hurkacz (POL) also reached the last 16, by triumphing in an all-Yonex third-round match, defeating Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 6-3, 7-6(0), 4-6, 6-1.
