Novak Djokovic on Monday sailed into a record 19th French Open quarter-final, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner dismantled Andrey Rublev in straight sets.
The 38-year-old Djokovic dusted aside Britain’s Cameron Norrie in three sets, his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier bringing up the Serbian’s 100th win at the French Open.
His tally of 19 quarter-final appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament, surpassing the 18 quarter-finals of Roger Federer at Wimbledon.
Photo: AFP
However, Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion, is focused on much bigger goals as he chases a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week.
“I feel good. I know I can play better, but 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it’s been solid so far,” said Djokovic, who likely faces a much more difficult test against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
“It’s great, but victory number 101 would be better. I’m very honored ... but I need to continue now,” he added.
Photo: AFP
Djokovic has not played anyone ranked higher than No. 73 through the first four rounds. Zverev is last year’s runner-up and advanced when Djokovic retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Zverev moved into his seventh Roland Garros quarter-final when Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor quit with an abdominal problem while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
The German is still hunting a first Grand Slam title. He lost last year’s final to Carlos Alcaraz and then finished runner-up to Sinner in Melbourne.
Photo: AFP
World No. 1 Sinner fired a warning shot to his title rivals with a ruthless 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian 17th seed Rublev in the night session.
Sinner, who returned from a three-month doping ban last month at the Italian Open, faces the unseeded Alexander Bublik for a place in the last four.
Bublik took down his second top-10 rival in Paris as the rejuvenated Kazakh came from a set behind to defeat British fifth seed Jack Draper 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Photo: AFP
In the women’s singles, world No. 361 Lois Boisson knocked out third seed Jessica Pegula to become the first home quarter-finalist at Roland Garros since 2017.
Boisson sent shock waves through Roland Garros as she kept the French flag flying with an improbable 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Pegula to join Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.
Boisson, 22, came from a set down against last year’s US Open runner-up to prolong her dream run on her Grand Slam debut.
She is the first French singles quarter-finalist in Paris since Caroline Garica and Kristina Mladenovic made it to the same stage eight years ago. Mary Pierce was the tournament’s last French champion in 2000.
“I really don’t know what to say,” said Boisson, who was roared on by the home fans on Court Philippe Chatrier. “To play on this court with such an atmosphere was incredible. I was confident before the match and knew I could do it even if she was really strong.”
She is the lowest-ranked woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since former top-20 player Kaia Kanepi at the 2017 US Open.
Kanepi was 418th at the time.
Boisson faces 18-year-old Russian rising star Andreeva today for a place in the semi-finals.
Sixth seed Andreeva moved through in straight sets as she cut short an attempted fightback by Daria Kasatkina to advance 6-3, 7-5.
World No. 2 Gauff brushed aside Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0, 7-5 to step up her pursuit of a first Roland Garros crown and second Grand Slam title.
Former US Open champion Gauff is to play reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in an all-American quarter-final today.
A runner who stopped during a marathon in China to pose doing the splits and another who hoarded energy gels have been banned for two years, the local athletics association said yesterday. The incidents happened during Sunday’s marathon in Sichuan Province’s Chengdu and were widely shared online. Videos showed a female runner stopping suddenly and dropping to the ground in the splits position, holding up her arms in a heart shape as she apparently posed for a photograph. She “committed obstructive fouls during the race, affecting the safe participation of other runners,” the Sichuan Athletics Association said in a statement, which identified
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS