Expansion
Casper Rudd of Norway broke the challenge of Nicolas Jarry of Chile 7-6, 7-5, 7-5 to enter the fourth round of French Open tennis. The fourth seed saved 14 out of 17 break points. He has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the third time. Apart from this, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece also reached the last-8 of the men’s section, where he will face Spain’s top seed 20-year-old Carlos Alcarez.
In a match that lasted three hours and 20 minutes, Rudd won the first set in a tiebreaker and won the second after trailing 1–4 and the third set after trailing 2–4. Rudd, a finalist last year, has won 85 claycourt matches on Tour since 2020. The 24-year-old will face the winner of the match between Holger Rune and Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight. Rudd is still looking for his first Grand Slam title.
Tsitsipas defeated Sebastian Ofner
Earlier on Sunday night, two-time Grand Slam runner-up Tsitsipas defeated qualifier Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, 6-0. Now he faces the challenge of Alcarez. If Alcarez manages to win over Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, he could face Novak Djokovic, who has reached the French Open quarterfinals for a record 17th time, in the semifinals. Djokovic defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 6–3, 6–2, 6–2.
Maia first Brazilian woman to reach last 8 in 55 years
14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman in 55 years to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Maia defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 in three hours and 51 minutes. This was the longest match of the season in the women’s category. Before Maia, Brazil’s Maria Buino reached the last eight of Wimbledon in addition to Roland Garros in 1968 and then reached the semi-finals of the US Open. Prior to the Open era (1968) Buino had won seven titles. Maia had not advanced past the second round of a Grand Slam before reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open.
Ukrainian player did not shake hands with Russian opponent
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, playing in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the birth of a child in October, beat ninth seed Daria 6-4, 7-6 to reach the last eight of women’s singles. In addition, Svitolina did not shake hands with her Russian opponent after the match and gave a ‘thumbs up’ instead. Svitolina did this because of the ongoing war between the two countries.
