Amanda Anisimova pummels her way to another Aryna Sabalenka showdown | Roland Garros Wrap, Day 6

Stream every match from Roland Garros on the Tennis Channel app, each day after 11 p.m. ET. 3 to Stream, our daily wrap of the action in Paris, highlights you three matches you'll want to read about—and then replay.

On Thursday I talked about how the first week of the men’s event in Paris is always highlighted by French Epics—marathons featuring home favorites that sometimes end in glory, but more often in tragically dashed home-fan hopes.

The epic I wrote about yesterday was a triumph: Arthur Fils’ five-set reverse comeback against Jaume Munar. I wondered after that match if the locals’ luck might be changing. I should have known better. Since then, business as usual—i.e., heartbreak—has returned to Roland Garros.

On Thursday night, Gael Monfils teased a packed Chatrier by starting a dramatic comeback against Jack Draper, and then folding quickly late in the fourth. On Friday, Quentin Halys went up two sets to one over 10th seed Holger Rune, then went up 15-30 with Rune serving at 4-5 in the fourth—two points from the upset. Tension rose in the building, the fans chanted his name, tournament director Amelie Mauresmo looked on expectantly. Then Rune won three straight points to hold serve, and won the last two sets in near silence.

To top it off, Fils pulled out on Friday, unable to get back on court after his epic. That left the French, suddenly, with no one left in the men’s draw.

For the the non-French tennis world, Friday was a day when the American men kept up plowing forward in the dirt, and two hard-hitting women set up showdowns with Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

Anisimova, in shades of 2019, pummels her way to another Sabalenka showdown

Amanda Anisimova d. Clara Tauson 7-6 (4), 6-4

It’s one of the stranger facts of tennis that the ultra-offensive-minded Anisimova has had her best Grand Slam results on slow red clay at Roland Garros. The New Jersey native, who was raised mainly on hard courts, is now 14-6 on the dirt in Paris, compared to just 3-5 at her home Grand Slam in New York. In 2019, at 17, she made the semis at RG and led eventual champion Ash Barty by a set.

That precocious run has been a double-edged sword for Anisimova ever since. It set a very high bar for her, very early in her career, one that she has never managed to match, and which may contribute to the sense that she hasn’t fulfilled her potential. These days, when she comes back to Paris, she tries to push the memories of it to the back of her mind.

“When I first got here, I was getting some flashbacks and good memories,” she said on Friday. “Every time I come here I get a little bit of that, but once I get started and get into the groove of the tournament, I try to stay really present.

“I mean, it’s 2025 now, so that’s how I look at it.”

Like it or not, her three wins this year will bring back memories of 2019. She hasn’t dropped a set, and in Tauson she beat a strong and improving young opponent in clutch fashion. This match was power versus power, and was always going to be a slugfest; the high heat on Friday only upped the pace.

Anisimova can be tentative mentally; it doesn’t seem to take much to make her believe that the worst is about to happen in a match. But today she kept any doubts at bay with uncommon shows of positivity and emotional aggression. The fist-pump and “Come on!” she let out after winning an early point in the tiebreaker seemed to stun Lindsay Davenport in the commentary booth.

Next up will be top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Ranking-wise, that should be the end of the line for the American. But their head-to-head record says otherwise: Anisimova leads it 5-2. That includes a win last summer in Canada, and a win during her 2019 run at RG.

“We’re both some pretty big hitters, so I’m sure we’re going to be going at it back and forth a bit,” Anisimova says. “I feel like it’s always a good matchup. I really enjoy the fight and the challenge that she brings on.”

What better way for her to live up to the standard she set six years ago by beating Sabalenka again?

Rybakina—remember her?—woodsheds Ostapenko to set up a clash with Swiatek

Elena Rybakina d. Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2

Rybakina couldn’t get out of the headlines at the start of 2025. She hired a new coach in Goran Ivanisevic, before musing about bringing back her old coach, Stefan Vukov. She finally ended up with neither: Vukov was banned from coaching for a year for what was termed abusive behavior, and Ivanisevic decided to take a pass.

Those must have been stressful times, and Rybakina’s ranking has suffered: She started the year at No. 6 and is currently No. 11. Still, her famously even-keel personality seems to have served her well. Rybakina is a hardly-shabby 26-9 on the season, and she just won her first title of the year, on clay in Strasbourg. Maybe exiting the spotlight suited her.

She was so far out of it, in fact, that by the time she squared off against Ostapenko on Friday, Rybakina was something of an afterthought. The buzz was about a possible meeting in the next round between Ostapenko and Swiatek; the Latvian is 6-0 against the Pole.

From the start, Rybakina made it clear she had other ideas. Ostapenko came out hitting her usual rocket ground strokes, only to see them come rocketing back faster. Rybakina hit 24 winners to just 14 for Ostapenko, and earned 14 break points to two for her opponent. Ostapenko, surely desperate for a chance at Swiatek, tried everything she could and never quit, but Rybakina was in a zone and never left it.

“I think I played really well,” said the less-than-loquacious Rybakina. “It was hot today, so the ball was flying quite a lot. But I managed it.”

Swiatek made it clear in her press conference that she wasn’t looking forward to another clash with Ostapenko. But Rybakina won’t be chopped liver, especially in this form. She’s 4-4 against Iga, and 2-0 on clay.

“Every day, every match is different,” Rybakina says. “Obviously I’ll try to focus on myself mostly. We played so many times. I know what to do.”

Five years after his RG breakout, Korda remains a puzzle

Frances Tiafoe d. Sebastian Korda 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4

Tiafoe beat Korda in straight sets in this match, but it felt like one shot made the difference. It came at 6-6 in the first-set tiebreaker. Korda had just saved a set point at 5-6 with a booming ace out wide. They changed sides, Korda served again, and then put a routine backhand into the net—“slack” was how the British commentator calling the match described it.

And that’s how Korda went for the rest of the match—slack. Tiafoe won the next point for the first set, jumped out to a 3-0 in the second, and never trailed or was pushed from then on. By the third, Korda was being treated for what looked like a sore lower back. Strangely, one of Korda’s few fist-pumps came when he was down 15-30 in the final game. Then he lost the last two points.

Five years ago, as a teenage Rafa fanatic, Korda made a breakout run to the round of 16 at Roland Garros. He followed that the next year with a title on clay in Parma, a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon, and a quarterfinal in Miami. With his Grand Slam pedigree—his father is former Top 5 player Petr Korda—a flawless two-handed backhand, and a 6-foot-5 frame, he looked like the proverbial future of American tennis. He made the cover of Tennis magazine, and Martina Navratilova touted his chances as the next first-time Slam winner.

In the four years since, Korda, now 24, has played well enough to make it to No. 15 and win two titles. Otherwise, he has been something of a puzzle. He’s reached one Grand Slam quarterfinal, at the Australian Open in 2023. He has a 2-5 record at the U.S. Open, hasn’t won a match at Wimbledon since 2021, and hasn’t been back to the fourth round at RG.

It’s true that he has had his injuries, but he hasn’t been forced to miss a major since 2022. Korda is still 6-foot-5 and still has that smooth backhand. What it seems to come down to is that he makes errors, and makes them at inopportune moments. Like that backhand that sent him reeling out of Roland Garros today.