Casper Ruud roars as Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff set up last-8 clash

PARIS, June 5

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 today 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.

2 Beatriz Haddad Maia became only the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era, after Maria Bueno in 1968

Danish sixth seed Holger Rune put in a monumental effort to claim a 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4 1-6 7-6(7) win over Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and reach the last-eight in just short of four hours.

Jabeur moved into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time with a 6-3 6-1 win 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,” 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 quarterfinals of a Major. Haddad Maia became only the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal 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 overcame an early wobble in windy conditions to outclass Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5 6-2 and make the quarterfinals 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 1-5 in the first set after she called the physiotherapist and had her blood pressure checked. — Reuters