Djokovic and Sinner chase French Open semis as underdogs look for upsets

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

Big guns Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic both chase semi-final berths at the French Open on Wednesday, but the spotlight will be on home hope Lois Boisson in the women's tournament.
French wildcard Boisson, ranked 361st in the world, steps up against Russian sixth seed Mirra Andreeva with a chance to write her own chapter in French tennis history.
Handed a wildcard to enter the tournament, the 22-year-old kept home hopes alive by battling past US third seed Jessica Pegula to reach the last eight.
"Obviously, it's a dream to begin with. I hope to go further," said the player from Dijon.
"This is my favourite surface. As soon as the clay season starts, this is when I feel best and when I feel happiest."
Second seed Coco Gauff will play seventh seed Madison Keys in an all-American quarter-final, looking to join world number one Aryna Sabalenka and three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek who are already through to the final four in the other half of the draw.
Djokovic will compete in a record 19th French Open quarter-final against last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev.
The German third seed will be well rested after his last-16 opponent Tallon Griekspoor retired on Monday with an abdominal injury while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
Zverev, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year's final, continues his latest bid for a maiden Grand Slam title after three runner-up finishes.
"For me, Carlos is the favourite. Then I would say the next three in line are Jannik, myself, and Novak, right? I still believe that," said Zverev, who could meet world number one Sinner in the semi-finals.
Zverev has made at least the last four at the past four French Opens and is into his seventh quarter-final.
The 28-year-old has won five of his 13 career matches with Djokovic, including in Melbourne in January when the Serb retired injured from their semi-final.
Djokovic, a three-time champion at Roland Garros, is just the second player to record 100 wins at the event after 14-time winner Rafael Nadal .
"It's a very pretty number, but 101 victories sounds better," said 38-year-old Djokovic who has reached the quarter-finals at the clay-court major for a 16th consecutive year.
"I will continue to search for another victory, it's clearly not finished for me here. I'm very honoured to make history in this sport, which has given me everything in my life."
World number six Djokovic is chasing a record 25th major title and has a 100-16 record at Roland Garros.
Italian Sinner takes on unseeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who hailed his emotional four-set win over fifth seed Jack Draper in the last 16 as the "best moment of his life".
Sinner leads 62nd-ranked Bublik 3-1 in previous meetings.
Both Sinner and Djokovic have not dropped a set so far.
The Italian reached the semi-finals last year where he lost a five-set battle to Spaniard Alcaraz.
Australian Open champion Keys plays Gauff against whom she has a 3-2 record winning their only meeting on clay in Madrid last year.
"It feels great to be back in the quarters here, and really happy with how I played today and hopefully can keep going," said Gauff who has 15 wins on clay this year.
Former US Open champion Gauff puts her success on the surface down to her unwavering belief that she can turn a match in her favour no matter the score.
She is hoping to make it third time lucky at the French Open, after losing in the finals in Madrid and Rome last month.
Gauff made her first Grand Slam final in Paris in 2022 at the age of just 18.
"I remember meeting Coco for the first time, and in my head she was, like, nine years old," joked 30-year-old Keys, who won her maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne in January.
"And just kind of watching her play, I knew that she was going to be someone that was going to be pretty dominant pretty quickly."
ea/nf