The last matches of the round of 16 of the Roland-Garros tournament take place this Monday, May 30. If there is no longer a single Frenchwoman and a single Frenchman in the running, a few favorites will be on the courts, like the Polish Iga Swiatek who will try to sign a 32e straight win by challenging China’s Qinwen Zheng. The Russian Daniil Medvedev will face the Croatian Marin Cilic on the Philippe-Chatrier in the night session.
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A Norwegian first…
He may not attract too much attention, but he advances step by step in the tournament. And here he is in the quarter-finals, a first in his career in a Grand Slam tournament. On Monday, the Norwegian Casper Ruud ousted in four sets (6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3) the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, on the Suzanne-Lenglen court.
The one who sent, Tuesday, May 24, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to retirement Tuesday, May 24, had until then only reached the round of 16 in a major tournament: it was in Melbourne in 2021.
“That was one of my goals for this year. I couldn’t make it in Australia [en janvier, il avait déclaré forfait sur blessure avant le début du tournoi] so it’s really great to be able to do it here”rejoiced Ruud on the court.
Seeded number 8 at Roland-Garros, Casper Ruud, 23, has mainly played tournaments in Europe, but not the most popular. “It’s true that so far I’ve only won ATP 250s, but for a player coming from Norway it’s already a big step, no one has achieved it so farhe explained to World a few weeks ago. Of course I hope to win bigger tournaments in my career but for the moment, I have nothing to be ashamed of..
… and a Danish shock
“I have confidence in my game. I believe that I am able to beat anyone, but also to lose against anyone”. In this case it was not against anyone that Holger Rune won on Monday: without complex, not hesitating to attack his opponent, the Dane beat in four sets (7-5, 3-6 , 6-3, 5-5) the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, world number four, finalist in Paris in 2021 and still considered one of the favorites this year.
This is one of the “shocks” of this tournament. Because, at 19, Holger Rune has only been playing for fourteen months on the main circuit. This is the first time he has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament: ranked 475e world at the start of 2021, he was at 40e rank before arriving in Paris.
” It’s incredible ! I was very nervous at the end and the audience was awesomeexclaimed the Dane who will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud on Wednesday. I was nervous but I knew I had to keep going with my game plan if I wanted to have a chance.”he added about his opponent’s comeback in the 4th set, up from 5-2 to 5-4.
Three weeks before his debut in the big picture at Porte d’Auteuil, Holger Rune had just won his first title, in Munich: he had not conceded a set in five games played, winning in the final against the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Roland-Garros, the young Dane knows quite well: in 2019, he became the first representative of his country to win in the Parisian tournament among juniors.
Russian duel
If officially there are no Russians (nor Belarusians) in Paris – the reference to the two countries, the flags and the anthems being banned because of the war in Ukraine – there will nevertheless be two Russians in quarter-finals of the women’s tournament.
Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova will face off on Wednesday. They won their tickets on Monday without too much fear. The first dominated in two sets (6-2, 6-2) the Italian Camila Giorgi. The second ousted the American Madison Keys in three sets (1-6, 6-3, 6-1)
If Kasatkina, 20th in the world, has already reached this level twice in a Grand Slam tournament, including in particular in 2018 Porte d’Auteuil, it will be a great first for Kudermetova (29th), who had never passed the third round. in Major.
In 2018, Daria Kasatkina was beaten by American Sloane Stephens. If she had followed up with another quarter-final at Wimbledon, since she had not reached the second week in the Grand Slam.
This year, the current 20th player in the world arrived in Paris with a series of 9 victories in her last 11 games: she was notably a semi-finalist at the clay tournament in Rome, losing to the Tunisian Ons Jabeur .
“I knew how to remain combative, I fought on each point and I trusted myself, I think that was the key”said Veronika Kudermetova, after her victory on Monday.
The number of the day
0
Since the start of the tournament, the Russian Daria Kasatkina has not lost a set. Monday, she left only four games to her opponent of the day, the American Sloane Stephens. Asked after the match about her strategy in the tournament, Kasatkina was very clear: “Make zero mistakes! »
The program for Tuesday, May 31
Court Philippe Chatrier
From 12 p.m.
Martina Trevisan (Italy) – Leylah Fernandez (Canada/n° 17)
Cori Gauff (USA/n° 18) – Sloane Stephens (USA)
Alexander Zverev (Germany/n° 3) – Carlos Alcaraz (Spain/n° 6)
Not before 8:45 p.m.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia/No. 1) – Rafael Nadal (Spain/No. 5)
