PARIS (AP) — Still unbeaten on clay this season, Marta Kostyuk reached the fourth round at the French Open for the second time on Friday and set up a big match against four-time champion Iga Swiatek.
The 15th-ranked Ukrainian is in an excellent run of form and extended her winning streak on clay to 15 matches with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Viktorija Golubic on yet another hot day in Paris.
Ahead of Roland Garros, she won in Madrid — the biggest title of her career — after she claimed another clay-court title in Rouen, France.
She previously reached the fourth round in Paris in 2021, when she lost to Swiatek. A rematch is coming up next after Swiatek defeated fellow Polish player Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4.
“Marta is having a great season,” said Swiatek, who has not won a title on clay since the 2024 French Open. “She always had a game to play well. Did some semifinals of big tournaments before. Now she won Madrid. So good for her.”
Swiatek, however, has won in straight sets all three times she has played Kostyuk and has experience on her side in Paris, holding a 43-3 record overall at Roland Garros.
“I’m still the person who lost to her three times, and she’s won this tournament four times,” Kostyuk said. “I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak."
Also advancing to the fourth round was Wang Xiyu of China, who beat Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-3, 7-5. The Chinese qualifier has still not dropped a set in her campaign. Eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva progressed with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Czech opponent Marie Bouzkova. Andreeva leads the women’s tour with 32 victories this season.
In men’s action, a day after top-ranked Jannik Sinner was upset after he twice failed to serve out the match in the third set, three-time champion Novak Djokovic later takes on Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.
Second-seeded Alexander Zverev, chasing a first major title in Paris, continues his quest for his first major trophy against Frenchman Quentin Halys during the evening session. Casper Ruud faces Tommy Paul.
Earlier, Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta reached the fourth round at a major for the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open by defeating Argentina’s Thiago Tirante 7-6 (0), 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Andrey Rublev beat Nuno Borges 7-5, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2).
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Andrey Rublev of Russia, bottom, serves to Nuno Borges of Portugal during their third round men's singles tennis match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya have arrested eight female students on suspicion of arson, authorities said Friday, after a fire destroyed a dormitory at a boarding school, killing 16 children and injuring dozens of others. The motive is still unknown.
Police held 30 students overnight for questioning. Authorities said school administrators would face disciplinary action for safety violations after an exit door was found to be locked during the panicked rush to escape the building. At least 79 people were injured.
Education Minister Julius Ogamba said two teachers were aware that students were planning something but failed to take appropriate action, without elaborating.
A full day after the blaze, some parents said they had still not been told whether their children were under arrest or just being questioned.
“We have not even been told about the eight that police have arrested,” a parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear that her daughter could be victimized, told The Associated Press. “We are just here and no one is giving us any information.”
At a hospital morgue some 28 kilometers (18 miles) from the school, other parents awaited DNA tests to identify their children. A distraught father, John Muiruri, said they were being given conflicting information about the location of the bodies.
“They have just been doing some sideshows, trying to prevent us from knowing the truth, but the reality we have come to know is that we have lost our children," he said. “What we want to know is where are the remains of our daughters.”
The Utumishi Girls School, located about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the capital, Nairobi, is managed and sponsored by the police, and many of the students are daughters of police officers.
“Investigators have conducted extensive interviews with students, teaching staff and other witnesses, while forensic teams carry out a detailed review of available CCTV footage,” John Marete, a spokesman for the investigative arm of the national police, said in a statement.
Education Minister Ogamba said the school's board of management had been dissolved and the principal would face disciplinary action for failing to comply with safety regulations.
“In particular, there was congestion in the dormitory and one exit door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” he said.
Fires at schools have long been a cause of concern for education officials in East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often crowded and firefighting equipment is rarely within reach.
Fires are sometimes attributed to electrical faults but there have also been cases of students burning down schools because of disciplinary issues.
Associated Press journalist Zelipha Kirobi in Gilgil, Kenya, contributed.
John Muiruri, father of Nicole Muiruri, who died in the fire at Utumishi Girls Academy, shows a photo of his daughter as he waits for body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
A parent of a victim of the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy is consoled ahead of body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
A parent of a victim of the fire at the Utumishi Girls Academy is consoled ahead of body identification and DNA testing at Naivasha Funeral Home in Naivasha Town, Rift Valley region, Kenya, Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
An injured student is evacuated following an early morning fire outbreak at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
Red Cross members recover the bodies of students who died in the fire at the Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
