Who said what: French Open day 8
Key quotes from the eighth day of the French Open at Roland Garros on Sunday:
"It's just about if I know that I didn't or I did a wrong thing, wrong shots or an illegal shot, I have to say. You know, I have to be honest with myself. I have to be honest with Ben, with everyone. I think that's the sport or should be like this, just to be fair with the opponent, with yourself."
Carlos Alcaraz on a shot he hit in his match against Ben Shelton. He told the umpire he had thrown his racquet onto the ball and Shelton was awarded the point.
"I do, unless I play bad, and that's the reason there are three sets, you know. But I didn't feel like I played bad today. I felt like we both played great, so I enjoyed this."
Iga Swiatek when asked if she enjoys three-set matches following her comeback win over Elena Rybakina.
"The court is so beautiful, and it's much bigger. The moment you step on the Chatrier, you feel like, 'Okay, this is a big stage, and this is where I'm meant to be. This is where I want to compete, and I want to fight, and I want to bring my best tennis'. So I think it's all about the energy of the stadium."
World number one Aryna Sabalenka on her preference for playing on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier, after her second match of the tournament on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
"Right now it's like the prime time season in South Florida for fishing, so I'm seeing a lot of great fish get caught while I'm away, and it's kind of breaking my heart. At least some people are catching them, right?"
Tommy Paul on his long wait to go fishing after reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
"Incredible. I absolutely loved it. It was the first day I saw her today, and I absolutely rinsed her. She was clowning so hard at Indian Wells. She was, like 'Man, I can't believe you're doing that, duh, duh, duh'. She was full out shaking her whole bag like it was an empty cookie jar on Chatrier.
"I'm going to keep ripping her for a long time. I've never seen someone two in the world have zero things in her bag."
Frances Tiafoe was delighted to see Coco Gauff take to the court without her racquets on Tuesday after she ribbed him for doing the same thing at Indian Wells earlier in the season.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
37 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Djokovic beats Zverev to set up semifinal showdown with top-seed Sinner
Three-time champion Novak Djokovic kept up his quest for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, battling past third seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday (June 4, 2025), to set up a French Open semifinal against top seed Jannik Sinner. The 38-year-old Serbian notched his 101st victory at Roland Garros, site of his Olympic gold medal victory last year at the Paris Games, after three hours and 17 minutes. Former world number one Djokovic is just two matches away from becoming the first player, male or female, to win 25 Grand Slam singles trophies. Sinner with easy win over Bublik Earlier on Wednesday Sinner booked his spot in the last four with a straight-sets win over Kazakh Alexander Bublik. Sinner continued his relentless pursuit of a maiden French Open title with a typically efficient 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 win. The near-flawless victory ensured Sinner became the first Italian man to make six Grand Slam semi-finals and extended his winning run at the majors to 19 matches after his triumphs at last year's U.S. Open and the Australian Open in January. Not easy to keep running at 38: Djokovic Following Djokovic's win over Zverev, the Serb said: 'Obviously there was a lot of tension, pressure but it is normal when you play against Zverev, one of the best in the world, in the last five-six years.' "My game is based on a lot of running. I am 38 years old, it is not easy to keep running like that but, okay, it works." "A match like the one this evening is the biggest reason why I continue playing and competing at this level," he said. Zverev, last year's finalist who is still searching for a maiden Grand Slam title, started out strongly and broke Djokovic in the very first game. Attempting to join the Serb, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the only men in the Open Era to reach French Open semi-finals in five consecutive years, the German held on to that advantage to earn the first set. Short rallies Knowing he could not match his 28-year-old opponent for fitness, Djokovic tried to keep the rallies as short as possible, playing more and more drop shots — 35 in total — to force the tall Zverev to the net. Djokovic broke his opponent at 2-1 in the second set and was quickly 4-1 up before Zverev had any time to react. He secured the second set with yet another drop shot. The veteran then broke Zverev twice more to bag the third set with his opponent running out of steam, lacking accuracy and having no clear plan B. Another break at the very start of the fourth set put Djokovic 2-0 up and firmly on the winning track before he wrapped it up on his fifth match point to reach a record-extending 51st Grand Slam semi-final.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Spectator booted out during Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev as French Open security show quick response
Novak Djokovic sealed a stunning comeback win against Alexander Zverev in the French Open 2025 quarter-final fixture, on Thursday. Losing the first set 4-6, Djokovic fought back to take the second set, 6-3. Then he clinched the remaining sets to finish a 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory. The match also saw a bizarre interruption when security gaurds swooped in and took a spectator away. The incident happened in the fourth set when the spectator started shouting. Zverev and the chair umpire were already observing the fan. With the Serbian about to serve, there was disruption from the spectator, who was a female, again. Meanwhile, the chair umpire addressed her, stating, 'Madame, madame.' Then the security spoke to a man, and removed him. TNT Sports commentator Nick Mullins said, 'Well I'm not entirely sure what started this but all of a sudden there's security guards around and a gentleman is being led out. His evening looks like it's over.' Meanwhile, Jim Courier joked, 'He wasn't a seat filler like they have at the Oscars?' Speaking after the defeat, Zverev said, 'I think at the moment he's a bit underrated, to be honest.' 'Funny that you say that, but I think like a lot of people count him out already, but this year he's had wins over Carlos at the Australian Open, he has had a win over me at the French Open. Forget the age. I think for any player, those are pretty good results.' Further praising Djokovic, he added, 'He's still beating the best of the best. So I think everybody needs to respect that.' 'He's won 24 of these things. I think, yes, I expected him to be able to play like this. I have not seen him play like this this year yet. I think it was very, very high level from him. It was at some point difficult for me. I mean, in the first set when the sun was not completely down, there was still some heat on the court. I could still, I felt like, hit some winners and do some damage with my serve. Then later on when it got really, really cold, I couldn't really do much.'
Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
Coco Gauff outlasts Keys in three-set battle to reach semis
Paris: Second seed Coco Gauff weathered early racquet tension, scoreboard pressure, and a fierce challenge from fellow American Madison Keys to book her place in the semifinals of the 2025 French Open at the Stade Roland Garros. The No. 2 seed rallied from a set down to win 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1 in 2 hours and 11 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier, ending Keys' 11-match Grand Slam winning streak. With the roof closed due to the chillier conditions, Gauff made a strategic adjustment by lowering her racquet tension — a decision she soon regretted. 'I changed [the tension] at 4-1, and after that, I had chances to win the first set,' Gauff said in her on-court interview with Mats Wilander. 'It's difficult to find the tension and how you want to play…I thought with the roof closed it would play slower, which it did in some moments, but I felt it was quick too. Also, I was playing Madison, so I don't know if that was the reason why!' After a flurry of early unforced errors saw her go down a double break, Gauff adjusted both mentally and technically. She clawed her way back to lead 5-4 and even held a set point, but Keys saved it with a forehand winner. The seventh seed then capitalised on three double faults from Gauff in the tiebreak to sneak ahead. But Gauff, the 2022 finalist in Paris, showed resilience. She took a 4-1 lead in the second set, only for Keys to come storming back and level things at 4-all. At that point, Gauff produced her shot of the day — a sublime angled backhand passing shot off a Keys smash — to break serve again and close out the set. From there, the match was firmly in Gauff's grasp. With her groundstrokes under control and her tactics sharpened, she raced through the third set, winning 17 of the final 22 points. Her frequent use of the drop shot and improved movement left Keys searching for answers. Statistically, it wasn't the cleanest affair — Gauff finished with 15 winners and 41 unforced errors, while Keys posted 25 winners and a costly 60 unforced errors. But it was the 21-year-old who found composure in the moments that mattered. In the deciding set, Gauff committed just two unforced errors, compared to 16 from Keys. With the victory, Gauff levels her head-to-head with Keys at 3-3 and becomes the youngest player since Martina Hingis in 2000 to notch 25 career wins at Roland Garros. This marks her fifth career Grand Slam semifinal, three of which have come in Paris. Next up, Gauff will face either No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva or French wildcard Lois Boisson as she bids to reach a second final on the red clay of Paris.
