The French Open needs to get with modern times. First, it needs to do a better job of scheduling women's matches in the night session. Fans want to see players such as Aryna Sabalenka play in primetime, too.
But Roland Garros needs to adopt electronic line calling. The argument tournament organizers put forth is that the ball mark should be obvious since the court is made out of dirt, but this is false. The issue might have had an impact on the outcome of the Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen quarterfinal match on Tuesday.
In the first set with Sabalenka leading 5-4 and the score at 30-all, the Belarusian hit a ball that appeared to land out, but wasn't called that way. The chair umpire came over and checked the mark and agreed. Hawkeye, however, showed the ball as being out.
Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek reach the semifinals of the 2025 French Open
The point was awarded to Sabalenka, which gave her a set point. Zheng would have had a break point had she rightfully been given the point. Zheng was able to get the first set to a tie-break, but the energy spent getting there might have cost her later in the high-powered match.
Still, the Chinese player could have remedied her bad luck by taking the second set, but Sabalenka's huge forehand was too much for Zheng, and she won set two more easily. The Belarusian won the match 7-6(3) 6-3. She will next play Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday.
Swiatek played a match against Elina Svitolina that was far more challenging than the score might imply. The Pole took the first set 6-1, but took most of an hour to play. Every game was close. What cost Svitolina was her number of winners compared to unforced errors, which were 4-to-17.
In the second set, Svitolina got a break to lead 3-1, but Swiatek got the break back in the next game. The Pole got another break at 5-all, and simply needed to hold to take the match. She won 6-1 7-5.
Though Swiatek has not had the best of years for her so far, she still is in a position to win her fourth-straight French Open, which no other woman has done in the Open era. Sabalenka has been the better overall player over the last year, but Swiatek might still be the queen of clay.