Novak Djokovic into French quarters for 14th straight year.
Novak Djokovic inched closer to a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title by crushing Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday to reach the French Open quarterfinals.No. 3 Djokovic, who is currently tied with Rafael Nadal with 22 major titles, was untroubled by his 94th-ranked opponent, the first Peruvian in 29 years to reach a Grand Slam fourth round, on a windy day on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He attacked Varillas at every opportunity to avoid being drawn into lengthy baseline battles that had seen the 27-year-old win all of his three previous rounds in five-set marathons.
Varillas lost the vast majority of the shorter rallies and could not find a way back into the match. Djokovic faces No. 11 Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic also moved one step closer to a potential semifinal matchup with No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti.
A two-time champion in Paris, Djokovic has now reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for a record 17th time, one more than Nadal, who missed the tournament this year and recently underwent hip surgery.
Djokovic's 14 straight quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros also set a record for the most consecutive quarterfinals by a male player in the Open era (since 1968), according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Jimmy Connors reached 13 straight US Open quarterfinals from 1973 to 1985. The second-longest streak at the French Open is nine by Roger Federer from 2005 to 2013.
"I am proud of all the records, but it also means I am not young anymore," said Djokovic, 36. "It was the best level of tennis I have played here, so I am very satisfied."
Djokovic finished with more than twice as many winners, 35-15, and fewer unforced errors. He went 15-for-17 on trips to the net. He put in 80% of his first serves. He converted 6 of 12 break points while dropping his serve only once.
On paper, Musetti had all the tools to unsettle Alcaraz: the touch, a superb backhand and a victory on clay in their only encounter. On court, however, the Italian player had nothing to bother his opponent.
Alcaraz had way too much firepower and grit for Musetti, who also got tortured at the net on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"I had a high quality of shots, I played really aggressive, and he played a complete match from the first point to the last, so I'm happy to be through to the next round," said Alcaraz. "I try not to think about being world No. 1 or the pressure. All these thoughts, I keep them out of my mind. I just want to enjoy myself, entertain the crowd and smile. This is the key to everything."
Alcaraz will face Stefanos Tsitsipas or Sebastian Ofner in the quarterfinals with the possible Djokovic showdown looming.
Khachanov showed good resilience to down Italian Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-1 and reach the French Open quarterfinals for the second time.
The Russian player looked out of sorts in the opening set before finding his range on Court Suzanne Lenglen, using his forehand to devastating effect.
Sonego never recovered from wasting a 4-0 advantage in the third-set tiebreak, which proved to be the turning point. He fell 5-6 behind and saved the first set point but served a double fault on the second.
After the first set and a half, I was thinking, what am I doing here? He was hitting all over the place, so I decided all I could do was fight," said Khachanov, who made it to the semifinals in the past two Grand Slams at the US Open and Australian Open.
Khachanov is 0-2 in Grand Slams against Djokovic, including a straight-sets loss in 2020, and 1-8 overall, losing their past seven meetings.
Sonego was strong on serve, not facing a single break point, as he outplayed his opponent in a one-sided opening set that he sealed when Khachanov netted a cross-court forehand.
Khachanov brought his best game into the second set to level the contest. Losing the third set broke Sonego's momentum, and his game, while a pumped-up Khachanov skated through the fourth set, prevailing on the first match point.
Most Grand Slam Quarterfinals
With Sunday's win, Novak Djokovic moved into solo second place for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by men or women in the Open era (since 1968), breaking a tie with Chris Evert and Serena Williams. He will need four more to pass longtime rival Roger Federer for the all-time mark.
| PLAYER | QUARTERFINALS |
|---|---|
| Roger Federer | 58 |
| Novak Djokovic | 55 |
| Serena Williams | 54 |
| Chris Evert | 54 |
| Martina Navratilova | 53 |
Doubles team disqualified as errant hit strikes ball girl.
Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified from the French Open on Sunday after a ball hit by Kato struck a ball girl during their women's doubles third-round match.Kato and Sutjiadi were a set down to Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo but 3-1 up in the second when Kato sent the ball to the opposite end of the court between points, hitting the ball girl and leaving her in distress.
Umpire Alexandre Juge gave Kato a warning before Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo, on the other side of the net, asked for their opponents to be disqualified.
No, no, let me explain to you. [Kato] didn't do it on purpose. [The ball girl] didn't get injured," Juge said.
"She didn't do it on purpose? She's crying," Sorribes Tormo said.
And she has blood," Bouzkova added, prompting the umpire to go to see the ball girl, who was sobbing.
Juge spoke to the girl, and tournament referee Remy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen went to Court 14 to look into what happened. Juge then went back up to his chair and announced the end of the match with the disqualification of Sutjiadi and Kato, who had apologized and was in tears as she left the court.
"It's just a bad situation for everyone," Bouzkova said. "But it's kind of something that, I guess, is taken by the rules, as it is, even though it's very unfortunate for them. ... At the end of the day, it was the referee's decision."
Bouzkova said she did not see the ball girl get hit but added that "she was crying for like 15 minutes."
In the quarterfinals, Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo will face Ellen Perez and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
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.
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.
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.
A first Slam quarter-final awaits: Haddad Maia v Sorribes Tormo
It’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.
Ruud, Rune on cusp of another meeting
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.
Surprise pack: Etcheverry, Schmiedlova and more
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.
