Novak Djokovic and Sinner chase French Open semis as underdogs look for upsets
French wildcard Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, steps up against Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva with a chance to write her own chapter in French tennis history.
Handed a wildcard to enter the tournament, the 22-year-old kept home hopes alive by battling past US third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the last eight.
'Obviously, it's a dream to begin with. I hope to go further,' said the player from Dijon.
'This is my favourite surface. As soon as the clay season starts, this is when I feel best and when I feel happiest.'
Second seed Coco Gauff will play seventh seed Madison Keys in an all-American quarter-final, looking to join world number one Aryna Sabalenka and three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek who are already through to the final four in the other half of the draw.
Djokovic will compete in a record 19th French Open quarter-final against last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev.
The German third seed will be well rested after his last-16 opponent Tallon Griekspoor retired on Monday with an abdominal injury while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
Zverev, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final, continues his latest bid for a maiden Grand Slam title after three runner-up finishes.
'For me, Carlos is the favourite. Then I would say the next three in line are Jannik, myself, and Novak, right? I still believe that,' said Zverev, who could meet world number one Sinner in the semi-finals.
Zverev has made at least the last four at the past four French Opens and is into his seventh quarter-final.
The 28-year-old has won five of his 13 career matches with Djokovic, including in Melbourne in January when the Serb retired injured from their semi-final.
'Pretty dominant'
Djokovic, a three-time champion at Roland Garros, is just the second player to record 100 wins at the event after 14-time winner Rafael Nadal (112).
'It's a very pretty number, but 101 victories sounds better,' said 38-year-old Djokovic who has reached the quarter-finals at the clay-court major for a 16th consecutive year.
Alcaraz tackles Shelton for spot in French Open quarters as Swiatek faces old foe
'I will continue to search for another victory, it's clearly not finished for me here. I'm very honoured to make history in this sport, which has given me everything in my life.'
World number six Djokovic is chasing a record 25th major title and has a 100-16 record at Roland Garros.
Italian Sinner takes on unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who hailed his emotional four-set win over fifth seed Jack Draper in the last 16 as the 'best moment of his life'.
Sinner leads 62nd-ranked Bublik 3-1 in previous meetings.
Both Sinner and Djokovic have not dropped a set so far.
The Italian reached the semi-finals last year where he lost a five-set battle to Spaniard Alcaraz.
Australian Open champion Keys plays Gauff against whom she has a 3-2 record winning their only meeting on clay in Madrid last year.
Former US Open champion Gauff puts her success on the surface down to her unwavering belief that she can turn a match in her favour no matter the score.
She is hoping to make it third time lucky at the French Open, after losing in the finals in Madrid and Rome last month.
Gauff made her first Grand Slam final in Paris in 2022 at the age of just 18.
'I remember meeting Coco for the first time, and in my head she was, like, nine years old,' joked 30-year-old Keys, who won her maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January.
'And just kind of watching her play, I knew that she was going to be someone that was going to be pretty dominant pretty quickly.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Canadian teen Mboko stuns top-seeded Gauff
Victoria Mboko celebrates a victory against Coco Gauff during their fourth round singles match of the WTA 1000 National Bank Open at IGA Stadium. PHOTO: GETTY/AFP Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko took down top-seeded American Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday, thrilling the home crowd as she reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal. The 18-year-old wild card saved all four break points she faced, and broke reigning French Open champion Gauff three times on the way to a comprehensive victory in just 62 minutes. "I don't even know what to say still, I was kind of shocked about it all," said Mboko, adding that the support of the home crowd had buoyed her late in the second set. "I just remember in the last game when I was up 5-4, the crowd kind of started cheering even louder, and everything got super noisy," she said. "I kind of used that as more fuel for myself and to pump myself up a little bit more. "I think it helped me tremendously, especially in the last game, since they were so encouraging me. It was just amazing." Mboko started the season ranked 333rd in the world and has worked her way up to 85 but the win over Gauff — who she took to three sets in Rome in May — is the biggest win of her career. "Playing Coco is obviously never easy. She's number two in the world, and it has been such a great opportunity for me to play against someone like her," Mboko said. "I was just happy I kept my composure today and I pulled it through." Gauff, who had a combined 37 double faults as she struggled through her first two matches, was caught flat-footed as the Canadian teen raced through the first set in 25 minutes. Gauff buckled down in the second, but she was unable to convert three break chances in the seventh game -- coming up short on a drop shot and smacking a forehand into the net on the first two. She gained anther chance only to hit a service return long, then flew a volley wide to give Mboko a game point, duly converted when Gauff fired a forehand long. Down 15-30 in the ninth game, Mboko leveled at 30-30 with a blistering backhand, then closed out the hold for a 5-4 lead. Serving to stay in the match, Gauff fell in a quick 0-30 hole and double-faulted to give Mboko a match point, on which the American hit a backhand into the net. "She played a really great match, that's basically it," Gauff said.
Express Tribune
18 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Marchand, McIntosh dominate at WAC
Gold medallists Canada's Summer McIntosh and France's Leon Marchand pose after winning best female and male swimmer of the World Aquatics Championships. Photo REUTERS Leon Marchand and Summer McIntosh sealed their golden swimming world championships with dominant victories on Sunday's final day as the United States signed off with a relay record. Eight days of competition in Singapore wrapped up with French superstar Marchand and 18-year-old Canadian sensation McIntosh underlining their supremacy. Marchand, who won four individual golds and was the face of his home Paris Olympics a year ago, added the 400m individual medley crown to his 200m medley title this week. The 23-year-old arrived in Singapore with a lighter programme in an effort to smash Ryan Lochte's 200m IM world record from 2011 — and he did just that. Marchand on Sunday cruised to victory in the 400IM, powering to the wall in 4min 04.73sec, more than three seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32), with Russian Ilia Borodin (4:09.16) third. "It's not perfect because it's never perfect, but it's more than I expected, especially the world record in the 200m medley," said Marchand. "It shows that I still have a passion for swimming, that I love it." Not to be outdone, McIntosh was similarly emphatic in winning the women's 400IM for her fourth gold in Singapore, to go with triumphs in the 200m medley, 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle. The world record holder led from start to finish to romp to victory in a championships-record 4:25.78, with Australia's Jenna Forrester and Japan's Mio Narita sharing silver (4:33.26). McIntosh's only defeat of the championships came on Saturday when she finished third in the 800m freestyle, with the American Katie Ledecky reigning over that event once more to underline her enduring quality aged 28. "Overall happy with my meet but always wanting more," said McIntosh. "Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more, that's just my mentality." The US team were battling acute gastroenteritis all week and faced flak from Olympic greats Michael Phelps and Lochte. But they silenced the doubters by breaking their own world record in winning the women's 4x100m medley relay. The Americans were victorious in 3:49.34, beating their previous record of 3:49.63 from Paris a year ago. They also set a mixed 4x100m freestyle world record on Saturday. The US ended a turbulent week top of the pile with nine golds, ahead of Australia with eight and France and Canada on four — all by McIntosh. American three-time Olympic gold medallist Bobby Finke called the criticism "weak" and "stupid". "Someone wants to say our swimmers are entitled, that's just the dumbest thing I've personally ever heard," world record holder Finke said after winning bronze in the 1,500m freestyle. China's 12-year-old schoolgirl Yu Zidi — whose presence at the championships at such a young age has ignited debate — was just out of the medals in fourth in the 400m medley. Yu was fourth in all three of her individual events and looks set to become a superstar of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. She goes home with a relay bronze from earlier in the week, and with it a slice of history as the youngest medallist ever. Australia's Meg Harris beamed from ear to ear after joining compatriot Cam McEvoy as a 50m freestyle champion. A day after McEvoy won the men's sprint, Paris Olympics silver medallist Harris powered home in 24.02sec to beat Chinese pair Wu Qingfeng (24.26) and Cheng Yujie (24.28). Harris, 23, said becoming an individual world champion was "the dream I have been dreaming of the whole time". Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi added the 1,500m freestyle world title to his 800m crown. Jaouadi grabbed gold in 14min 34.41sec, ahead of Germany's Sven Schwarz (14:35.69) and American Finke (14:36.60). There was a Russian victory in the men's 50m backstroke, with world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov dominating for gold in a championships-record 23.68sec. Russian swimmers are competing as neutrals because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The Russians won the men's 4x100m medley relay from France and the United States. Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte sealed a career fourth women's 50m breaststroke world crown.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Victoria Mboko stuns top seed Gauff to reach Canadian Open quarters
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko earned the biggest win of her career on Saturday, beating top seed Coco Gauff 6-1 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open in Montreal. Mboko dropped her racket and covered her face in disbelief as the packed crowd leapt to their feet after the 18-year-old tournament wild card sealed the victory in just over an hour. 'Thank you, you helped me so much,' she told the home crowd in French during an on-court interview. She called her first-ever appearance in the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 event 'incredible,' especially after toppling reigning French Open champion Gauff. Mboko was helped along the way by her error-prone opponent, who never found her rhythm on serve and failed to convert any of her five break point opportunities. Gauff's sixth double fault set up match point, which Mboko converted when the American's backhand slice drifted into the net. Despite her disappointment, Gauff hugged Mboko at the net and will look to regroup as she prepares to make a run at a second U.S. Open crown next month. Mboko will face either Lin Zhu of China or Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro - both unseeded players - in the quarters. Earlier, ninth seed Elena Rybakina edged Dayana Yastremska 5-7 6-2 7-5 in their fourth-round battle and will next face another Ukrainian, 24th seed Marta Kostyuk, who came from behind to take out American McCartney Kessler 5-7 6-3 6-3. On the men's side of the tournament, which is being held in Toronto, 20-year-old Alex Michelsen reached his first quarterfinal of a Masters 1000 event with a 6-3 6-3 win over fellow American Learner Tien. 'It feels really good,' Michelsen said. 'It's uncharted territory from this point on, and I'm super happy to be in the quarters for the first time.' Michelsen, seeded 26th, will face hard-hitting 11th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia, who upset eighth seed Casper Ruud in their fourth round match 6-4 7-5. Khachanov, who has twice reached the semifinals of the tournament, lost to Michelsen in their only prior meeting. Alex de Minaur, who triumphed at last month's Washington Open, advanced to the quarterfinals over fellow Australian Christopher O'Connell via walkover. Ninth seed De Minaur will next face seventh-seeded American Frances Tiafoe. Top seed Alexander Zverev was set to take on Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the night session.
