Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina roll into 2024 Roland Garros quarterfinals

Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina maintained their collision course towards the 2024 Roland Garros semifinals, each winning their fourth-round matches in straight sets on Monday.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed and reigning Australian Open champion, booked her seventh straight major quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 22 seed Emma Navarro, while the No. 4 seeded-Rybakina defeated No. 15 seed Elina Svitolina, 6-4, 6-3.

Sabalenka and Rybakina both advanced in exactly one hour and nine minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

"It sounds crazy to me, to be honest, and I'm super happy that I was able to bring this consistency on the Grand Slams," Sabalenka said of her streak. "That's really amazing. I just, yeah, it's motivating me a lot to keep pushing myself a lot and to see where is the limit."

Rybakina was first into the last eight after an intriguing Round of 16 clash with Svitolina, a former world No. 3 and four-time quarterfinalist in Paris—including last year, when she enjoyed a fairytale run in her first major outing since giving birth to daughter Skaï. Svitolina had dropped just one set to get back into the second week, but Rybakina was even more efficient, losing just 12 games through her first three matches.

"We definitely improved my movement on the court, and I'm really happy with how I feel now on these courts, having more confidence, of course, with every match I win," Rybakina said just off court to Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim. "I'm looking forward to the next one."

After an early exchange of breaks, the 24-year-old Rybakina surged through the first set with few issues, saving a break point in the eighth game to ultimately serve it out two games later. The second set saw her race out to an even bigger, double break advantage, and though Svitolina clawed one of the breaks back, Rybakina was undaunted, breaking once more to clinch the contest on her second match point.

"It's all about the focus now," Rybakina said. "The matches are getting tougher, and so are the opponents. It's a lot about consistency and not having so many ups and downs. I had a few more unforced errors in the first set, so if I improve that, it's going to be better for the next match."

Awaiting her in the quarterfinals will be Italian rival Jasmine Paolini, who pushed her to three sets six weeks ago at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The No. 12 seed roared back from a set down to defeat Elina Avanesyan, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, and score the biggest major result of her career.

Sabalenka was up next on Chatrier, and has been dominant throughout the clay-court season—reaching the finals of the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia—and, like Rybakina, has been ruthless through her first three rounds. Her biggest test came in the third against good friend Paula Badosa: the former world No. 2 led 5-3 in the opening set before Sabalenka bounced back, losing just one more game under the Chatrier roof.

Playing outdoors for the first time in the tournament, Sabalenka was keen on revenge against Navarro, the on-fire American who shocked her in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open earlier this season. Navarro knocked out fellow American Madison Keys in the third round, but was up against a different level of power and consistency in Sabalenka, who breezed through the opening set behind a barrage of winners—14 to be exact.

Sabalenka was quickly up a break in the second set but briefly struggled to put Navarro away; the American twice dug out of tricky serve games to avoid a double-break deficit. Returning up 5-3, Sabalenka made no mistakes, converting match point with a booming forehand winner—her 36th of the match, against only 12 unforced errors.

Now on an 11-match streak at major tournaments, Sabalenka will await the winner of the fianal fourth-round match between Varvara Gracheva and Mirra Andreeva. Sabalenka played the latter last month at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, winning in straight sets en route to the final.