Andy Murray might have come into the French Open in awful form for a World No. 1 but he has at least reversed that to some extent…
Ryan Harrison of the U.S. and Michael Venus of New Zealand advanced to their first Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday, upsetting seventh seeds Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Harrison/Venus broke three times and erased seven of eight break points faced during the 91-minute quarter-final.
They will face 16th seeds and Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the semi-finals.
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.
Day 11 at Roland Garros promises to be the most appetising yet for men’s tennis fans. Four quarter-finals. One day. Hours of entertainment.
No. 4 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v. No. 20 Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP), 11 a.m. Court Philippe Chatrier
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Nadal leads 3-0
Can anyone stop Rafael Nadal? The fourth seed has looked like clear favourite to take home his 10th Roland Garros crown and achieve tennis history on Sunday. No man or woman has won a Grand Slam title 10 times since the Open Era began 49 years ago, in April 1968.
This fortnight in Paris, Nadal has yet to drop a set and could hoist the trophy without doing so, as he did in 2008 and 2010. Through his first four contests, the left-hander has lost only 20 games, one game off his best start at Roland Garros, in 2012, when he had lost 19 games through four matches.
He’s been dominant on serve and effective on return, breaking 28 times for an average of seven breaks per match. That’s second only to defending champion Novak Djokovic, but Djokovic has played two more sets, 14, than Nadal’s minimalistic 12.
Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta likely doesn’t care about those numbers, though. He’s already achieved what he had never done before by reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, so why not continue the career-best run?
The 25 year old from Gijon has never beaten Nadal and has captured only one set against his elder countryman. But the right-hander had also never beaten his fourth-round opponent, fifth seed Milos Raonic. Yet on his seventh match point, Carreno Busta came through to bring on a fourth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Nadal.
“If I think that I don’t have a chance, I will not play. So for sure I think I have a chance,” Carreno Busta said. “It’s really difficult, because Rafa is maybe the best player on this surface in history, and he’s playing really good, but I will try. I’m playing good. I’m [playing] with a lot of confidence.”
2017 Tour-Level Clay-Court Wins
|
Player |
Record |
|
Rafael Nadal |
21-1 |
|
Albert Ramos-Vinolas |
21-11 |
|
Dominic Thiem |
21-4 |
|
Pablo Carreno Busta |
20-7 |
|
Alexander Zverev |
16-4 |
No. 2 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v. No. 6 Dominic Thiem (AUT), 11 a.m. Court Suzanne Lenglen
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Djokovic leads 5-0
Andre Agassi has left Paris but his time as Djokovic’s coach during the first week of Roland Garros appears to have been well spent. Djokovic, fresh off his run to the Rome final last month, returns to the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the eighth consecutive year and the 11th time overall.
Another victory on Wednesday and Djokovic will reach his 32nd Grand Slam semi-final, catapulting him to second place on the Open Era list. He’ll also climb to second on the all-time Grand Slam wins list.
Grand Slam semi-final appearances in the Open Era
|
Roger Federer |
41 |
|
Novak Djokovic |
32? |
|
Jimmy Connors |
31 |
|
Ivan Lendl |
28 |
|
Andre Agassi |
26 |
|
Rafael Nadal |
25 |
|
Pete Sampras |
23 |
Against Thiem, the defending champion Djokovic will have a bank of memories to rely on, or, to be precise, a handful. He’s never lost to Thiem, boasting a 5-0 record against the 23-year-old Austrian in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 30-year old’s most dominating win against Thiem also happens to be his most recent: a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing two weeks ago in Rome that had Thiem remarking about his dislike for playing Djokovic.
“It’s really tough for me to play [him] because he doesn’t give me any time. I don’t really like to play against him, because he has a game style which doesn’t fit me at all,” Thiem said after the 59-minute match.
Thiem, however, was been in a similar situation last month, when he successfully ended a losing streak against a Top 5 player. Before the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Thiem had fallen to Nadal in back-to-back finals – at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and at the Mutua Madrid Open. But when they faced off in the Italian capital, Thiem reversed the streak, upsetting Nadal in straight sets.
The 6’1” Thiem, after reaching the Roland Garros semi-finals last year, will try to match his best Grand Slam performance and become the second Austrian man to reach multiple Grand Slam semi-finals after Thomas Muster.
No. 1 Andy Murray (GBR) v. No. 8 Kei Nishikori (JPN), third on Court Philippe Chatrier
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Murray leads 8-2
For the second time in 10 months, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori will meet for a spot in a Grand Slam semi-final. Last September, the two battled for nearly four hours at the US Open. Nishikori advanced in New York, breaking Murray at 5-5 in the fifth set to earn only his second win against the Brit. But at the Nitto ATP Finals in London two months later, it was Murray who withstood top-level tennis from Nishikori, coming back from a set down to beat the Japanese during group play.
Murray, who’s trying to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year, should feel plenty confident when the two meet for the 11th time. At Roland Garros, the Scot has strung together four consecutive wins for the first time since March, when he won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title.
The 30-year-old Murray has also seemingly solved his clay-court woes. In one week at Roland Garros, Murray has doubled his clay-court win total this season. He entered the fortnight with a 4-4 record on the red dirt.
Nishikori, following an injury-plagued clay-court beginning, will try to recreate his aggressive US Open play and advance to the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time. He would be only the second Japanese man to make the semi-finals in Paris (also Jiro Satoh, 1933). Nishikori also reached the quarter-finals in 2015 before falling to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets.
Day 11: Murray & Wawrinka could meet in the SFs again – but Nishikori & Cilic are formidable obstacles. Read: https://t.co/GHzWRNqRD1 #RG17 pic.twitter.com/TbtJYTMNNv
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 6, 2017
No. 3 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) v. No. 7 Marin Cilic (CRO), third on Court Suzanne Lenglen
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Wawrinka leads 11-2
The last time Marin Cilic beat Stan Wawrinka, neither of the players had won a Grand Slam or an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. It was 2010 on hard courts in Melbourne. The good news for Cilic: the win came at a Grand Slam. The bad news for Cilic: He hasn’t been able to beat Wawrinka in any of their past seven FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings.
The 28-year-old Croatian will try to end the seven-match losing streak when he and Wawrinka play for the 14th time. Cilic will also try to reach his first Roland Garros semi-final. The right-hander is making his debut appearance in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
But Wawrinka has not played in a very welcoming way thus far in Paris. The right-hander answered everything Gael Monfils tossed at him during their quarter-final. Through his first four matches, Wawrinka has dropped only 47 games, the fewest games he’s lost en route to a Grand Slam quarter-final since the 2015 Roland Garros, when Wawrinka won the title.
Cilic should have at least one advantage, though: He should be fresher. Cilic has spent less than six hours on court during his first four matches, compared to Wawrinka, who has clocked more than nine hours of court time.
Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com.
| French Open quarter-finals |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: Wednesday, 7 June Time: 15:00 BST approx |
| Coverage: Live radio commentary and text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Andy Murray will look to make amends for last year’s US Open defeat when he takes on Kei Nishikori in the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Murray and Nishikori will meet on Court Philippe Chatrier at around 15:00 BST.
The Briton, 30, lost a dramatic five-set contest when they met at the same stage in New York last September.
Surprisingly, the Japanese player struggled to even recall the match when asked on Monday: “I don’t even know if I won or lost. I won?”
It was only his second win over Murray, who has since taken his tally to eight victories having beaten Nishikori in the Davis Cup, Olympics and ATP Finals in 2016.
After a slow start to 2017 as he struggled with injuries and illness, the world number one has found his form at Roland Garros.
Impressive wins over Juan Martin del Potro and Karen Khachanov in the last two rounds have suggested Murray is capable of matching last year’s run to the final.
“I’m happy with where my game’s at,” the Scot said after his fourth-round win.
“Everything is going pretty well just now. I’m feeling good going into the middle part of the second week.”
| Wednesday’s order of play | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time (BST) | Court Philippe Chatrier | Court Suzanne Lenglen |
| 10:00 | Rafael Nadal v Pablo Carreno Busta | Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem |
| 13:00 | Karolina Pliskova v Caroline Garcia | Simona Halep v Elina Svitolina |
| 15:00 approx | Andy Murray v Kei Nishikori | Stan Wawrinka v Marin Cilic |
And the Wimbledon champion does at least remember his New York defeat last year, which came three weeks after he won Olympic gold in Rio.
“I obviously lost against him at the US Open,” Murray said. “He plays well on the clay, obviously, and is very solid off both wings.”
If Murray has had his health issues in 2017, Nishikori has struggled with injuries throughout his career, a right wrist hampering him this season after hip and rib problems in 2016.
The 27-year-old Japanese player has already played one five-set match in Paris and twice lost sets 6-0.
However, he has only spent 20 minutes more on court than Murray, at 11 hours and 24 minutes, and says he will be ready after a day off.
“I think physically, I’m OK,” Nishikori said.
“It’s not easy. Long matches. I’m a little bit sore, but I’m sure it’s going to be okay. I have one day rest [on Tuesday].
“I’ll try to be physically ready for a long, tough match.”
BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller at Roland Garros
Murray has an excellent record against Nishikori, but will still have vivid memories of the defeat he suffered at last year’s US Open.
The Japanese won the deciding set of their quarter-final 7-5: Murray had led by two sets to one but became distracted by a malfunctioning sound system and a yellow butterfly.
Nishikori has had a more gruelling passage to the last eight: he has twice lost a set 6-0, appears hindered by back trouble and will need to play as he did in New York to topple the rapidly improving world number one.
| Murray’s path to the quarter-finals |
|---|
| 1st round: bt Andrey Kuznetsov (Rus) 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-0 |
| 2nd round: bt Martin Klizan (Svk) 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-3) |
| 3rd round: bt Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) 7-6 (10-8) 7-5 6-0 |
| 4th round: bt Karen Khachanov (Rus) 6-3 6-4 6-4 |
Unseeded Latvian Jelena Ostapenko became the first teenager to reach the French Open women’s semi-finals since 2007 with a shock win against former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.
The 19-year-old lost the first five games of her first major quarter-final before winning 4-6 6-2 6-2.
She will play Swiss 30th seed Timea Bacsinszky, who beat France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-4.
“I’m really happy, I can’t believe it,” world number 47 Ostapenko said.
Ostapenko will meet 27-year-old Bacsinszky in their semi-final on Thursday – when both players celebrate their birthdays.
The pair eventually won their quarter-final matches after torrential rain disrupted the first two women’s last-eight ties in Paris.
Two rain delays – totalling almost four hours – meant Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s French Open quarter-finals were postponed until Wednesday.
Ostapenko is the first teenager to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals since Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic and the first to book a place in a Grand Slam semi-final since American Madison Keys at the 2015 US Open.
“It was tough because we had to go away two times from the court,” Ostapenko said.
“Caroline is a tough opponent, I knew I had to stay aggressive, I lost it sometimes but I found my game.”
With pregnant Serena Williams missing and a number of notable early exits, a first-time Grand Slam women’s singles champion will be crowned in Paris.
Wozniacki, 26, boasted the best pedigree of the eight players left in the draw, and was tipped by some observers to win her first major title.
The Dane ended the year as world number one in 2010 and 2011 and has reached two US Open finals without success.
The gulf in experience between Wozniacki, who was competing in her eighth Grand Slam quarter-final, and Ostapenko was huge.
The Latvian looked a little nervous as Wozniacki eased into a 5-0 lead in the first set, but pegged her back to 5-4 before Wozniacki broke her serve for a third time to clinch the opener.
Ostapenko took only two of 11 break points in the first set, but was more clinical when the chances continued to come in the second set.
Both players again struggled to hold their serve, exchanging breaks before Ostapenko rattled off three games in a row to lead 5-2.
Ostapenko served out for the set after the first three-hour rain delay, and then grew in confidence in the decider as Wozniacki wobbled.
Ostapenko broke her serve in the fifth game, going on to win the final five games to become the first Latvian women to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in the Open Era.
After beating defending champion Garbine Muguruza in the previous round, the home fans had hoped Mladenovic could end France’s 17-year wait for a home winner at Roland Garros.
Both players struggled in the blustery conditions in the first part of the match but the French 24-year-old in particular lacked the intensity and power of her Muguruza win.
Mladenovic fought off a break point immediately after the first rain delay at the start of the second set, and broke serve in the following game, but Bacsinszky came back to win in one hour 49 minutes on court.
The win puts the 27-year-old Swiss into the French Open semi-finals for the second time, having been beaten in the last four by Serena Williams in 2015.
Bacsinszky almost quit tennis under the pressure of what she called a “control freak” father in 2013 but is now a win away from her first Grand Slam final.
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent at Roland Garros:
“The rain delays – one of which lasted over three hours – did Mladenovic no favours. She loves to work the crowd and after a sequence of emotional and narrow victories in earlier rounds, it all fell a bit flat on the Philippe Chatrier Court.
“Much of that was down to Bacsinszky, who was the superior player, and now a semi-finalist for the second time in three years.
“Ostapenko was magnificent in the other completed quarter-final. She makes a lot of unforced errors, but hit 38 winners to Wozniacki’s six as she coped so well with her first taste of a Grand Slam quarter-final.”
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June |
| Coverage: Live radio commentary and text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s French Open quarter-finals were postponed until Wednesday following torrential rain in Paris.
The women’s quarter-finals were interrupted twice before Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Swiss Timea Bacsinszky booked their semi-final places.
As a result of Tuesday’s downpours, officials decided to reschedule the first two men’s quarter-finals.
That means all four men’s last-eight matches will be played on Wednesday.
| Wednesday’s order of play | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time (BST) | Court Philippe Chatrier | Court Suzanne Lenglen |
| 10:00 | Rafael Nadal v Pablo Carreno Busta | Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem |
| 13:00 | Karolina Pliskova v Caroline Garcia | Simona Halep v Elina Svitolina |
| 15:00 approx | Andy Murray v Kei Nishikori | Stan Wawrinka v Marin Cilic |
Fourth seed Nadal meets fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta as he aims to move a step closer to a record 10th title at Roland Garros.
Twelve-time Grand Slam winner Djokovic, who is seeded second, plays Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem.
World number one Andy Murray faces Japan’s eighth seed Kei Nishikori, while Swiss third seed Stan Wawrinka – the 2015 champion – takes on Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic.
The remaining women’s quarter-finals are also scheduled for Wednesday.
Czech second seed Karolina Pliskova plays France’s Caroline Garcia, while 2014 finalist Simona Halep – the Romanian third seed – faces Ukraine’s fifth seed Elina Svitolina.
Davis Cup singles matches will be reduced to three sets among a series reforms approved by the International Tennis Federation Board of Directors.
Davis Cup will retain its three-day format, with doubles matches on the Saturday still the best-of-five sets, and the dead rubber policy will also be amended.
Both Davis Cup and Fed Cup finalists will have the choice of hosting their first-round tie the following year.
The changes still require AGM approval.
The ITF will be asked to approve these changes at its meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in August and president David Haggerty is confident they will be passed.
“Davis Cup and Fed Cup are two of the most iconic team competitions in sport, but there is no doubt change is needed to ensure that we maximise their full potential,” he said.
“While still needing AGM approval, we are confident that our National Associations will see that to vote for these reforms is to vote for the long-term future of our competitions and our sport.”
Kheredine Idessane reports from the French Open where Andy Murray is putting in some practise ahead of his last-eight tie against Japan’s Kei Nishikori.