Casper Ruud continued his bid to reach back-to-back finals at the French Open by fending off Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in a 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5 fourth-round win yesterday as Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur also stayed on course for a maiden Grand Slam crown.
Ruud, who has only dropped two sets in four matches so far, faced a tricky test against lanky claycourt specialist Jarry but pulled through in three hours and 20 minutes as his opponent failed to make his chances count in the last two sets.
“If we had gone five sets I don’t know how long we would have played,” said Ruud on Court Philippe Chatrier. “I have to thank my team for pushing me in practice. I did the work and physically I was ready for more.”
He next meets Holger Rune in a rematch of last year’s quarter-final after the Dane got a helping hand from the umpire with a missed but glaring double bounce to battle past Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4 1-6 7-6(7).
Jabeur moved into the quarter-finals at the claycourt major for the first time with a 6-3 6-1 victory over American Bernarda Pera and hoped that the romantic atmosphere of Paris will help her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title.
“Paris is always romantic, day or night. Winning here will definitely be an amazing memory for me,” said Jabeur, who became the first African player to reach the quarters at each of the four majors in the Open Era.
The Tunisian had reached the Australian Open quarter-final in 2020 and finished runner-up to Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon and US Open title clashes last year.
The 28-year-old is not getting complacent ahead of her clash with 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5 to become the first Brazilian woman since Maria Bueno in 1968 to make the quarter-finals of a major.
Haddad Maia became only the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open Era after Bueno and she got there in three hours and 51 minutes – the longest women’s match of the tournament.
Last year’s runner-up Coco Gauff outclassed Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5 6-2 in windy conditions to reach the quarter-finals where she will face holder Iga Swiatek in a rematch of the 2022 final.
Poland’s top seed Swiatek set up the blockbuster meeting when her ailing fourth-round opponent Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine retired while down 5-1 in the first set after she called on the trainer and had her blood pressure checked.
Russian Daria Kasatkina said she left the tournament with a sense of bitterness after being booed off by the crowd following her fourth-round defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Sunday.
“Leaving Paris with a very bitter feeling. All these days, after every match I’ve played in Paris I always appreciated and thanked the crowd for their support and being there for the players,” Kasatkina wrote on Twitter.
“But yesterday I was booed for just being respectful on my opponent’s position not to shake hands. Me and Elina showed respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court like that was the worst part of yesterday.
Later on, an aggressive Alexander Zverev punched his ticket into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-4 6-3 win over Bulgarian 28th seed Grigor Dimitrov to raise hopes that his barren Grand Slam run could finally end.
Playing in the late session on Court Philippe Chatrier for the third match in a row, 22nd seed Zverev was at his dominant best again on a balmy evening as he returned to the quarter-finals for a fifth time in six years.
Up next for the towering twice Roland Garros semi-finalist is Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
Zverev, whose only defeat by Dimitrov in four previous meetings was nearly a decade ago, wrapped up the first set in double quick time with stunning shot-making that helped him capitalise on all three of his breakpoints.
Having been on the ropes early in the match, the 32-year-old Dimitrov came out fighting in the second set and broke for a 3-2 lead before saving two breakpoints to hold in the next game.
But the wheels soon came off for former world number three Dimitrov, who miscued a volley and was flummoxed by a lob into the wind, as German Zverev hit back and increased his grip on the contest when his opponent crashed a shot into the net.
Zverev saved breakpoints to go up 3-0 in the third but a double fault handed Dimitrov a lifeline and he drew level. Normal service soon resumed, however, and Zverev finished the match in fine style to send out a warning to his rivals.
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