Gauff charges, Ruud rumbles into quarters

Last year’s French Open runner-up Coco Gauff overcame an early wobble to outclass Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5 6-2 and reach the quarterfinals, where she could face a potential rematch with holder Iga Swiatek.

Gauff won her previous clash with Schmiedlova in Madrid last year, dropping only two games, and the American made a quick start again with a break in the opening game to pull away and leave her 100th-ranked opponent facing an uphill task.

But 28-year-old Schmiedlova, playing in the second week of a Major for the first time, mounted a late fightback from 5-2 down to draw level only to squander her opportunity and allow sixth seed Gauff to edge a tense first set.

The 19-year-old Gauff tightened her grip in the next set, working the angles and deploying the drop shot to devastating effect as she closed out the victory without any more drama.

Gauff will now await the winner of the fourth round match between world No 1 Swiatek and Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.

Casper Ruud continued his bid to reach back-to-back finals at the French Open by fending off Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in a 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5 fourth-round win as Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur also stayed on course for a maiden Grand Slam crown.

Ruud, who has only dropped two sets in four matches so far, faced a tricky test against lanky clay court specialist Jarry but pulled through in three hours and 20 minutes as his opponent failed to make his chances count in the last two sets.

“If we had gone five sets I don’t know how long we would have played,” said Ruud on court Philippe Chatrier. “I have to thank my team for pushing me in practice. I did the work and physically I was ready for more.”

Jabeur moved into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time with a 6-3 6-1 win over American Bernarda Pera and hoped the romantic atmosphere of Paris will help her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title.

“Paris is always romantic, day or night. Winning here will definitely

be an amazing memory for me,” said Jabeur, who became the first African player to reach the quarters at each of the four Majors in the Open Era.

The Tunisian had reached the Australian Open quarterfinal in 2020 and finished runner-up to Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon and US Open title clashes in 2022. The 28year-old is not getting complacent ahead of her clash with 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5 to become the first Brazilian woman since Maria Bueno in 1968 to make the quarterfinals of a Major.

“For now, I just want to take it one match at a time,” added Jabeur. “I will have a very difficult quarterfinal. I was just taking it one match at a time, trying to make it to the second week. Now I’m going to push more for the next few matches.”

Haddad Maia became only the second Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era after Bueno and she got there in three hours and 51 minutes — the longest women’s match of the tournament.

Russian Daria Kasatkina said she left the tournament with a sense of bitterness after being booed off by the crowd after her fourth-round defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Sunday. “Leaving Paris with a very bitter feeling. All these days, after every match I’ve played in Paris I always appreciated and thanked the crowd for their support and being there for the players,” Kasatkina wrote on Twitter.

“But yesterday I was booed for just being respectful on my opponent’s position not to shake hands. Me and Elina showed respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court like that was the worst part of yesterday.

“Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate.”

Belarusian world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who has snubbed the media after being grilled about Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, can expect a hostile reception from the fickle Parisian crowd when she plays Svitolina on Tuesday.

PARIS IS ALWAYS ROMANTIC, DAY OR NIGHT. WINNING HERE WILL DEFINITELY BE AN AMAZING MEMORY FOR ME

Ons Jabeur Tunisian tennis player