French Open Highlights Du Jour: Day 10
Through in Three
All four of today's quarterfinal matchups (two men's and two women's) were three set affairs. Maria Sharapova came back from a set down to win sets two and three while Genie Bouchard notched the victory after winning the first and third sets. On the men's side Djokovic swept aside big-serving Milos Raonic in straight sets and Ernests Gulbis did the same to Tomas Berdych.
Gulbis Assembling the Puzzle
After losing last week, Australian Open Champion Stan Wawrinka aptly described tennis as a puzzle that needed to be put together. For Ernests Gulbis, it seems like the pieces are finally starting to fit together. Ernie frittered away the early years of his career, even dropping out of the top hundred in 2012, but he's been turning over a new leaf on the court (in the press room, he's still a loose cannon). Right now he's sitting at a career high ranking of 17th in the world and he's just surpassed his best-ever Slam result after dominating Tomas Berdych in straight sets to reach the Roland Garros semifinals. According to the ATP, Ernie will join the top ten on Monday as long as Monfils doesn't win the title.
Sharapova Barely Surviving
After a crushing double bagel victory in the third round, Maria Sharapova has had to fight much harder to come back from the brink of defeat in her two most recent matches. Yesterday she trailed Garbine Muguruza 1-6, 4-5 before rallying to take the second set 7-5 then grabbing the third set 6-1.
Djokovic's Streak
Though it's not as impressive as Nadal's record 32 match win streak at Roland Garros (to go with his 31 match win streak from 2005-09), Djokovic kept a streak of his own alive yesterday. Djokovic has never lost a match to a Canadian player. He's 3-0 against Milos Raonic, 2-0 against Frank Dancevic, 1-0 against Peter Polansky, and 1-0 against Vasek Pospisil. He'll try to keep his career Grand Slam hopes alive during his next match against Ernests Gulbis.
Back-to-Back for Genie
Genie Bouchard moved into her second consecutive Grand Slam semifinal yesterday with a three set win over clay court specialist Carla Suarez Navarro. In her last Grand Slam semifinal, Genie was dismissed without much ado by Li Na. Genie will face Sharapova for a chance at a Grand Slam final, but Sharapova leads the head-to-head 2-0 and Bouchard has yet to even win a set from her.
Quarterfinal Cleanup
The remaining quarterfinal matches are scheduled to be played today. Sara Errani will open on Chatrier against Andrea Petkovic, followed by Gael Monfils against Andy Murray. On Lenglen, Svetlana Kuznetsova will kick off play against Simona Halep, followed by an all-Spanish matchup of Rafael Nadal vs David Ferrer.