We're getting to the business end of RG2023 - watch those quarter-final slots fill up
In less than seven days we will know the Roland-Garros 2023 singles champions.
Two-time and defending champion Iga Swiatek is on track to hoist the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen for a third time, and at the loss of just eight games across her first three matches she is in imperious form.
But her fourth-round opponent, Ukrainian veteran Lesia Tsurenko, has been in fine form herself, dropping only 11 games in total and dusting aside former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-1, 6-1 in round three.
Swiatek leads their head-to-head 2-0, with both those clashes coming on clay.
Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov have both been resurgent this Roland-Garros, and the two top stars play for a fifth time, but a first in seven years on red dirt. For Dimitrov, it’s a shot at a first quarter-final here, which would come nearly a decade after he first made the final eight at a major – at the Australian Open 2014.
© Julien Crosnier/FFTIt’s been a shining 12 months for Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the powerful lefty capturing her first two singles titles and soaring from world No.48 to inside the top 15.
Neither she nor her fourth-round opponent, Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, have been this far at a Grand Slam; the opportunity to advance into the quarters is immense.
Sorribes Tormo, facing a myriad of injuries, says she is a new Sara who has learned to "stay in the moment" after time away from the sport. She’s known for her gritty and competitive game, and was gifted a third-round walkover when Rome winner Elena Rybakina withdrew due to illness.
Both players have a history of playing marathon matches, so it's fair to expect a three-hour duel will unfold on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Monday. The two have split four previous meetings, and are 1-1 head-to-head on clay.
Are we due for a ru-match?
A year ago, the Norwegian Casper Ruud and Dane Holger Rune faced off in a fiery quarter-final, a frosty handshake on court preceding a war of words off of it as Ruud made his run to the final.
The two favourites take on surging South Americans to set up said re-match, with the towering Chilean Nicolas Jarry due to challenge Ruud while Argentine Francisco Cerundolo offers Rune a test.
Two weeks ago Ruud and Rune faced off for the first time since last year, Rune coming from a set down to win in the Rome semis.
But neither can look past their respective opponents on Monday, with Jarry taking out No.16 Tommy Paul in round two before Cerundolo upset another seeded American, Taylor Fritz, on Saturday.
Week 1 has produced plenty of surprises, and Cerundolo’s Argentine compatriot Tomas Etcheverry is one of them, the 23-year-old world No.49 upsetting two top-20 seeds in Alex de Minaur and Borna Coric en route to his best major result in just a sixth appearance at this level.
It’s quite the opposite for Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, the 28-year-old who is playing in her 33rd major. She’s been to the third round three times before at Grand Slams, but never this far, and between 2016 and 2020 she suffered 13 consecutive first-round exits at the majors, a streak she snapped at Roland-Garros in 2020.
Meanwhile, Bernada Pera of the USA is into her first Slam fourth round, too, and Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka is into just his second, having gone this far a few months ago at the Australian Open.
©Julien Crosnier / FFT
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
