Before the unseeded American Sloane Stephens entered the court to face the No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, the French Open sells the matchup as David fights Goliath. But Sabalenka and Stephens are both Grand Slam champions, and it showed on Sunday.
The Belarusian star secured his first Roland-Garros quarterfinal with a hard-fought 7-6(5), 6-4 win. Stephens’ experience in the 2018 final showed as she came back from 0-5 down in the first set, pushing it to a tiebreak.
Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, also rallied from 4-2 to 4-4 in the second before Sabalenka broke to go 5-4 up and served for the match.
Sabalenka now leads the tour with 33 match wins. The 2023 Australian Open champion will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.
The doubles team was disqualified
The No. 16 seed doubles team Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia were disqualified from Roland-Garros on Sunday when Kato sent a hit flying towards a ball girl in their third-round match.
Kato and Sutjiadi lost the opening set to Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo, but went up 3-1 in the second when Kato’s fortuitous hit brought the ball girl to tears.
Umpire Alexandre Juge initially warned Kato, but opponents at the other end of the court demanded the pair be disqualified.
Novak Djokovic breaks ties with Rafael Nadal
On the opening day of Roland-Garros, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic told reporters that a strange year without Rafael Nadal represented a new opportunity at the title. A week later, Djokovic earned his spot in the French Open quarterfinals in record fashion.
With a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday, he reached the quarterfinals for the 14th consecutive year, the longest streak by a person in the history of the event. Roger Federer made the second-most consecutive appearances, advancing to the French Open quarterfinals for nine consecutive years before retiring.
Although Djokovic added that he does not miss Nadal because of his track record against him, he now holds the record for most single French Open quarterfinals appearances by a man with 17. He and Nadal are formerly bound.
“Well, I’m proud of it, but my attention is on the next match,” Djokovic said after Sunday’s victory. The 22-time Grand Slam champion will next face Russian No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic probably has other ideas in his sights. He and Nadal currently have 22 Grand Slam singles championships. Djokovic has two French Open titles from 2016 and 2021. With a win this year, he would become the first man to hold at least three major tournament trophies.
Notable anxieties
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Unseeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. 28 Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
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Pavlyuchenkova missed last year’s tournament with a knee injury and has now beaten three seeded opponents in a row.
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Defense of Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. 9 Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Other results
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No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, expected to be Djokovic’s biggest competition for La Coupe des Mousquetaires, def. Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
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The No. Greece’s 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
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Karolina Muchova def. Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-4.
What to watch on Day 9
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No. 6 America’s Coco Gauff vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova
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World No.1 Iga Swiatek vs. Lesia Tsurenko
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No. 7 Ounces of Jabeur vs. Bernarda Pera
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No.14 Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo
