Coco Gauff, Uns Džábirová, and Casper Ruud advance to French Open quarterfinals

Among the top eight in Paris for the first time is world number seven Uns Džábirová from Tunisia and, after an almost four-hour battle, also Beatriz Haddadová Maia, as the first Brazilian woman in the Grand Slam after 55 years. Džábirová beat the American Bernarda Pera 6:3, 6:1 in the fourth round. Maia Haddad defeated Spain’s Sara Sorribes 6:7, 6:3 and 7:5.

Like Gauff, last year’s defeated men’s singles finalist Casper Ruud did not hesitate. The fourth seeded Norwegian tennis player defeated Nicolás Jarry from Chile 7:6, 7:5, 7:5. Another nearly four-hour fight was fought between the Dane Holger Rune and the Argentinian Francisco Cerúndol. World No. 6 Rune won thanks to a successful super-tiebreak 7:6, 3:6, 6:4, 1:6, 7:6.

The newly 22-year-old Šwiateková, who defeated Barbora Krejčíková in the first round, broke Curenko three times in the first set and was close to winning the ninth set in a row this year in Paris. However, the Ukrainian gave up at the end of the set due to nausea. Šwiateková will try to beat Gauffová in the seventh mutual match, and she hasn’t lost a set against her yet.

“Since last year, I wanted to play her in this tournament. I believed it would happen because I thought I would do well and so would she. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best,” said Gauff.

The 28-year-old Tunisian Džabirová did not give Pera a chance and won in 64 minutes. Roland Garros was the only Grand Slam so far where she did not make it to at least the quarterfinals, her maximum being the fourth round. She was the first African player to reach the last eight at all Grand Slams.

“Paris, that’s just romance. Day and night. And winning the title here would be a truly unforgettable experience. But now it’s better to take it match by match,” said last year’s Wimbledon and US Open finalist Džábirová.

Maia Haddad will be the next opponent of the former world number two. The fourteenth-seeded Brazilian beat Sorribes after three hours and 51 minutes. The last Brazilian tennis player in the Grand Slam quarterfinals was Maria Buenová in 1968.

The 24-year-old Ruud, who last year played in the final at the US Open alongside Roland Garros, averted 14 of 17 break points in the duel with Jarry and decided the balanced duel for himself thanks to better managed set endings. Even 56 winning balls were not enough for the aggressively playing opponent, the Norwegian favorite converted the second match point in less than three and a half hours.

Ruud meets Rune again in the quarter-finals after a year. After three hours and 59 minutes, the 20-year-old Dane defeated the world number 23 Cerúndola in the super-tiebreak of the fifth set 10:7. He will want to repay Ruud for last year’s elimination, when he lost 1:3 in sets. The last pair consists of the German Alexander Zverev and, as the only unseeded quarterfinalist, Tomás Martín Etcheverry from Argentina.