Day of surprises at Roland Garros: Rune scolds Tsitsipas, Cilic eliminates Medvedev and defeats Swiatek in his first set

It was a day of bumps at the French Open. Young Danish Holger Rune, number 40 in the world rankings, eliminated current Roland Garros runner-up and four in the world, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the round of 16, while Russian Daniil Medvedev (2) was swept off the track by Croatian Marin Cilic (23). In addition, on the day in Paris, Polish Iga Swiatek (the 1st of the WTA) lost his first set, even though he was already in the quarterfinals.

At the bottom of the table (where Djokovic, or Nadal, or Alcaraz, or Zverev are not), Tsitsipas seemed clearly all set to stand in the final, but ran into the rude Rune, 19, imposed by 7- 5 , 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4.

Rune, who is compared by many because of his age and his impressive tennis with Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (N.6), defeated Tsitsipas with 54 wins and despaired of him by of 32 drop shots.

Just by the end of the game Rune’s wrist seemed to be shaking, but he knew how to resolve the situation, despite his inexperience in moments like this.

“I was nervous, but I knew I had to stick to my game plan if I was to give myself a chance,” Rune added, referring to the decision -maker in the fourth set, when Tsitsipas had a chance to force the fifth set.

Rune reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros, something no Danish tennis player has achieved since 1925. And a player with this nationality has not played quarterfinals in a Grand Slam since Jan Leschly did so in 1967 US Open.

Despite his age, Rune is more determined in decisive moments. For example, after Tsitsipas wasted three break points in the eighth game of the first set, Rune exhausted his chance in the 11th game via forehand crosscourt to beat Tsitsipas ’drive into the net.

Or in the third set, where there was just one ‘break point’ … that Rune didn’t miss.

Even in the fourth set, after lifting a 5-2 deficit, Rune saved three balls for 5-5 and didn’t miss his rival.

Despite standing in the round of 16 without giving up a set, Medvedev was removed from the court by Cilic, who played an almost perfect match: 90% of the points won in the first service, without receiving a break point, 33 wins’ (by 15 from Russian) and 18 points won on the net (from 25).

“It was one of the best matches of my career. It was incredible from start to finish,” admits Cilic, who at the age of 33 has yet to make it past the quarter-finals in Paris (which he was eliminated both times, in 2017 and 2018). ).

Cilic will face Russian Andrey Rublev (N.7), who benefited from withdrawal due to the injury of Italian Jannik Sinner (N.12).

If Rune made history for Danish tennis, Casper Ruud (N.8 and the only survivor of the Top 10 from the bottom of the table) has made it for Norwegian, by becoming the first tennis player of the nationality this reached the quarterfinals Final Roland Garros.

Ruud qualified after beating Pole Hubert Hurkacz (N.13) in four sets, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and established himself as one of the best players of the season, after scoring in 2022 his 28th victory, for just nine defeats, in addition to two titles (Buenos Aires and Geneva), a final in Miami (lost against Spanish Carlos Alcaraz) and a semifinal by Rome ( defeated by Novak Djokovic).

“It was a goal for me to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final,” said Ruud, who missed the Australian Open earlier this year due to injury.

The women’s quarterfinals have been determined. After sweeping the first three games, Polish Iga Swiatek (N.1 in the world) lost her first set against young Chinese Qinwen Zheng (19 years old), but was injured in the second set and ended up losing 6-7 (5/7), 6-0 and 6-2.

“She has played incredible tennis, she has really surprised me with some of her shots,” he declared about his rival, where he admitted in the preview that he has never seen one against him, but other tennis players on the circuit. warned him that “he has Many talents”.

It was the 32nd consecutive victory for Swiatek, who came to Paris after winning his last five tournaments played.

In the quarterfinals, American Jessica Pegula (N.11), who defeated Romanian Irina Begu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, will play.

The final quarter will be played by Russians Daria Kasatkina (N.20) and Veronika Kudermetova (N.29), who defeated Italian Camila Giorgi (N.30), by a double 6-2, and the American Madison Keys (N. .22), of 1-6, 6-3 and 6-1, respectively.

If Kasatkina, the world’s twentieth player, has reached this level twice in a Grand Slam, one of them at Roland Garros in 2018, it will be the first time for Kudermetova, who has not yet passed the third round in a major.