Sabalenka eyes revenge against Zheng in French Open quarter-finals
PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) - The French Open quarter-finals start on Tuesday with top seed Aryna Sabalenka facing Zheng Qinwen, who won gold when Roland Garros hosted the tennis tournament at last year's Paris Olympics.
The defending champions are also in action, with Iga Swiatek taking on Elina Svitolina and Carlos Alcaraz facing Tommy Paul.
TOP WOMEN'S MATCH: ARYNA SABALENKA V ZHENG QINWEN
World number one Sabalenka, yet to drop a set at the French Open this year, looked unstoppable as she weathered first-set pressure against Amanda Anisimova and landed 11 aces to reach the quarter-finals.
But the 27-year-old's toughest test yet comes from a player the Belarusian defeated the first six times they met.
Chinese eighth seed Zheng Qinwen secured her first win over Sabalenka last month, beating the Belarusian in straight sets at the Italian Open, the first time they played on clay.
"The few times I faced her in the beginning, I gave her too much respect," Zheng said.
Zheng has dropped only one set in reaching the last eight for the first time as she bids for her first Grand Slam title.
"She's a great player," Sabalenka said. "Of course, I expect a great battle, and I'm super excited to face her in the quarter-finals, and I want to get my revenge."
TOP MEN'S MATCH: TOMMY PAUL V CARLOS ALCARAZ
Two five-set clashes tested Paul as his French Open campaign got off to a tough start, but the American looked more solid when he beat Alexei Popyrin in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Paul must overcome defending champion Alcaraz in the quarter-finals to keep his quest for a maiden Grand Slam title alive.
The 12th seed's source of inspiration to upset the world number two is not one of his two wins over Alcaraz but the latest of his four losses to the Spaniard.
Paul lost in straight sets to the Spaniard at the Paris Olympics last year, but the American did have his moments in the match.
"I know a lot of things that I could have done better... I think we would go into the match with some good, new ideas."
Alcaraz has beaten Paul the last three times they met.
"I remember that every match I've played against him he was really tough," he said.
"We make really good rallies, good points... it's going to be a good quarter-final."
Swiatek bounced back after losing the first set 6-1 to beat Elena Rybakina on Sunday, staying on track to win a fourth straight French Open crown.
Svitolina has played four tiebreakers in her last three matches, grinding out hard-fought victories to reach the quarter-finals for the fourth time.
But Svitolina, who has lost three of her four matches against Swiatek, showed the two had something important in common when the Ukrainian shocked last year's finalist Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round after saving three match points.
"I tried to really stick to my game plan, tried to stay in the match, keep fighting," Svitolina said.
Swiatek, on a 25-match winning streak at Roland Garros, spoke of playing with a similar spirit after her win over Rybakina.
"I kind of accepted that I can lose it the match but it didn't change the fact that I wanted to fight for it anyway," the Polish fifth seed said.
FRENCH OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON TUESDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER (play begins at 0900 GMT)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v 8-Zheng Qinwen (China)
13-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v 5-Iga Swiatek
8-Lorenzo Musetti (Italy) v 15-Frances Tiafoe (U.S.)
12-Tommy Paul (U.S.) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
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