French Open: Elina Svitolina beats 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini and will face Iga Swiatek next

PARIS (AP) — Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1 on Sunday, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.

The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open — but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.

“Last few months have been really, really tough for the Ukrainian people, and last few weeks have been awful, as well,” Svitolina said. “It’s something that all Ukrainians live on a daily basis with — with the bad news. So when I’m on the court, I’m fully focused on my job, on my tennis, and try to get these wins, try to keep Ukrainian flag flying for my country.

"That’s what motivates me to keep pushing, to keep winning, to keep playing tennis, in general.”

She'll try to go a step further Tuesday, when she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who trailed by a set and a break before defeating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women's bracket will be No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 8 Zheng Qinwen. Sabalenka, a three-time major champ, used a five-game run to take control from 5-all in the first set and beat No. 16 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. 7-5, 6-3, while 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng was a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova.

The No. 4-seeded Paolini entered Sunday on a career-best nine-match winning streak, including a run to the title on red clay at the Italian Open.

A year ago, she reached her first major final at the French Open, losing to Swiatek, then also made it to the championship match at Wimbledon, where she lost to Barbora Krejcikova.

Against Svitolina, Paolini served for the victory while leading by a set and a break at 5-3 in the second. But the Italian got broken at 15 there. She then held her first two match points while ahead 5-4, 15-40 as Svitolina served.

Paolini missed a forehand on the initial chance to end things and a backhand on the next.

In the ensuing tiebreaker, Paolini again was a single point from winning — and again failed to come through, this time when Svitolina ended a 14-stroke exchange with a volley winner.

From there, Svitolina was in control, racing to a 4-0 lead in the third set. She is quite comfortable on clay, where she has earned a tour-leading 16 of her 27 wins this season.

Svitolina also defeated Paolini at the Australian Open in January.

Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe reached their first French Open quarterfinals and gave the United States two men in that round in Paris for the first time since 1996. Not even one man from the country had reached the final eight since Andre Agassi in 2003. No. 12 seed Paul beat No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 15 Tiafoe defeated Daniel Altmaier of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Paul now meets No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion. Alcaraz defeated No. 13 Ben Shelton of the U.S. 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Tiafoe's next opponent will be No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti, who won 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 against No. 10 Holger Rune in a match that ended after midnight.

The fourth round is scheduled to conclude on Day 9, with No. 1 Jannik Sinner against No. No. 17 Andrey Rublev, 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic against Cam Norrie among the men's matches, and four U.S. women in action: No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. Lois Boisson of France, and No. 7 Madison Keys vs. Hailey Baptiste in an all-American matchup.

Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. celebrates beating Germany's Daniel Altmaier during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Tommy Paul of the U.S. reacts after beating Australia's Alexei Popyrin during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrates beating Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates beating Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

China's Zheng Qinwen celebrates beating Russia's Liudmila Samsonova during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates after beating Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Tommy Paul of the U.S. reacts after beating Australia's Alexei Popyrin during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Italy's Jasmine Paolini hits a forehand against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrates beating Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina reacts winning a point to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their fourth round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Sunday, June 1 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — Police intensified their search Wednesday for a suspect in the killing of professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, two days after he was shot to death at his home outside Boston.

Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist, was shot Monday night at his apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts. He died at a local hospital on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

The prosecutor’s office said the homicide investigation was “active and ongoing” as of early afternoon Wednesday and had no update — earlier they had said no suspects were in custody.

The investigation into the MIT professor's killing comes as Brown University, another prestigious institution just 50 miles (80 kilometers) away in Providence, Rhode Island, is reeling from an unsolved shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others Saturday. Investigators provided no indication Tuesday that they were any closer to zeroing in on the gunman's identity.

The FBI on Tuesday said it knew of no connection between the crimes.

Dozens of people gathered outside Louriero’s building Tuesday night, many with candles in hand, to honor the professor’s life and support his family. Neighbors received paper notices attached to their doors with tape to place candles in their windows in Louriero’s honor. Some people cried and held each other, but most attendees were silent, their breath visible in the bracing cold. A few children rode scooters from their nearby homes to the gathering.

The killing happened when most MIT students were on winter break, and more than a dozen of them on the Cambridge campus on Wednesday didn’t want to talk about it. Most said they didn't know him.

A 22-year-old student at Boston University who lives near Loureiro’s apartment in Brookline told The Boston Globe she heard three loud noises Monday evening and feared it was gunfire. “I had never heard anything so loud, so I assumed they were gunshots,” Liv Schachner was quoted as saying. “It’s difficult to grasp. It just seems like it keeps happening.”

Loureiro, who was married, joined MIT in 2016 and was named last year to lead MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, where he worked to advance clean energy technology and other research. The center, one of the school's largest labs, had more than 250 people working across seven buildings when he took the helm. He was a professor of physics and nuclear science and engineering.

He grew up in Viseu, in central Portugal, and studied in Lisbon before earning a doctorate in London, according to MIT. He was a researcher at an institute for nuclear fusion in Lisbon before joining MIT, the university said.

“He shone a bright light as a mentor, friend, teacher, colleague and leader, and was universally admired for his articulate, compassionate manner,” Dennis Whyte, an engineering professor who previously led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, told a campus publication.

The president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth, said in a statement that the killing was a “shocking loss.” The office of Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also put out a condolence statement calling Loureiro’s death “an irreparable loss for science and for all those with whom he worked and lived.”

Loureiro had said he hoped his work would shape the future.

“It’s not hyperbole to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanity’s biggest problems,” Loureiro said when he was named to lead the plasma science lab last year. “Fusion energy will change the course of human history.”

Associated Press writers Leah Willingham in Boston; Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and David Biller in Rome contributed.

A notice encouraging neighbors of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro to display candles in their windows to honor his life is taped to an apartment door in Brookline, Mass., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

A crowd of people holding candles gather outside the home of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Mass., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass., April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

A crowd of people holding candles gather outside the home of Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro in Brookline, Mass., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)