French Open: Swiatek defeats China’s Zheng to enter quarterfinals

Paris: The loss of one set by a player is normally not the stuff of headlines at a Grand Slam tournament. That did constitute news at the French Open, because the player was No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek and it had been more than a month since that happened to her. The way it came about […]

Paris: The loss of one set by a player is normally not the stuff of headlines at a Grand Slam tournament. That did constitute news at the French Open, because the player was No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek and it had been more than a month since that happened to her.

The way it came about was noteworthy, too: She led the first set of her fourth-round match against 74th-ranked Zheng Qinwen of China 3-0, then 5-2, and was a point from claiming it on five occasions but could not seal the deal. Swiatek entered the day having won 20 sets in a row, and 48 of her preceding 49.

---

All that truly mattered, in the end, was that 2020 champion Swiatek would not lose another set on this cloudy evening, getting past the hard-swinging Zheng 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 to return to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and run her winning streak to 32 consecutive matches.

Next to try to stop Swiatek will be 11th-seeded Jessica Pegula, who advanced to her third major quarterfinal and first in Paris — with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, who was fined $10,000 last week when she threw her racket and it bounced into the stands, brushing a child in a front-row seat.

A red-hot Marin Cilic of Croatia powered into the French Open quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Medvedev on Court Phillippe Chatrier, leaving the Russian’s hopes of becoming world No. 1 at the end of the clay-court major in tatters. Cilic will face another Russian, Andrey Rublev, for a place in the semifinal.

The other women’s quarterfinal Wednesday will be between two Russians: No. 20 Daria Kasatkina and No. 29 Veronika Kudermetova.

The most-anticipated men’s quarterfinal will be the 59th career meeting between defending champion Novak Djokovic and 13-time champion Rafael Nadal on Tuesday night. Also Tuesday, No. 3 Alexander Zverev plays No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain. Men’s matches Wednesday Holger Rune, a 19-year-old from Denmark, against No. 8 Casper Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway.

With Rune, who eliminated 2021 runner-up Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Alcaraz still in the field, it’s the first time in 28 years that two teens made the men’s quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament.

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---