10 in a Row
Spaniard David Ferrer made his 10th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal when he topped big-serving South African Kevin Anderson in four sets yesterday. It was Ferrer's 36th win at Roland Garros, tying him with Alex Corretja for second-most wins by a Spaniard at Roland Garros (Nadal is first). Ferrer will next face his countryman Rafael Nadal who advanced with a straight sets bludgeoning of Dusan Lajovic. Ferrer and Nadal played in last year's final, which Nadal won for his eighth French Open title.
Speaking of which…
Nadal finished off Lajovic in just 93 minutes yesterday—only 4 minutes longer than Djokovic's 89 minute destruction of Tsonga on Sunday.
Last Man Standing
Sloane Stephens fell yesterday to Simona Halep, eliminating the final American from either singles draw. The Bryan Brothers also lost yesterday in straight sets, making Eric Butorac the last American standing. Butorac and his Hungarian partner Timea Babos are into the Mixed Doubles semifinals and next face off against Julia Goerges and Nenad Zimonjic.
La Monf Moves On
After looking like he was on the verge of keeling over during his match on Saturday against Fognini, Gael Monfils came out on fire against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. La Monf sped out to 6-0, 6-2 lead in just 54 minutes. The third set was far more competitive, but Monfils eventually prevailed 7-5 to move into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2011.
Aces (not so) High
With the fourth round in the books, the men's and women's ace leaders have both bowed out. Men's leader John Isner lost on Sunday while women's leader Lucie Safarova lost yesterday. Milos Raonic—who trails Big John by just 10 aces—is still playing and has averaged 18 aces a match through the first four rounds. Safarova's closest active competition is Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ironically sent her packing yesterday.