By Julien Pretot and Shrivathsa Sridhar PARIS (Reuters) -Four-time champion Iga Swiatek clawed her way back from the brink to reach the French Open quarter-finals by defeating her claycourt nemesis Elena Rybakina while men's title holder Carlos Alcaraz also went through after a tough workout on Sunday.

In the women's draw, Iga Swiatek survived an upset alert from Elena Rybakina to keep her hopes alive of becoming the first woman in the Open Era to win four consecutive titles at Roland-Garros. Elina Svitolina took out 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini in three sets, while No. 8 Zheng Qinwen defeated Liudmila Samsonova in a three-set thriller.

The French Open fourth round starts on Sunday with women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka and men's defending champion Carlos Alcaraz both facing American opponents, while Iga Swiatek continues her quest for a fourth straight women's singles title.

The French Open could throw up an epic Saturday with several stars taking to the courts today. Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper, Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff are all in action. There is also the Battle of the Brits between Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley.

Jiri Lehecka acknowledged that he got beaten up pretty well by Jannik Sinner in the French Open third round before stating that "only Carlos Alcaraz" could create some problems for the world No. 1 in Paris.

Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are some of the prominent players in action in the fourth round on the eighth day at Roland Garros, Paris.