Paris: Roger Federer reached the French Open quarterfinals for the 12th time, becoming the oldest man in 28 years to make the last-eight of a Slam while Johanna Konta became first British woman since 1983 to enter the last 8 at Roland Garros here Sunday.
The 37-year-old eased past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 and will face either close friend and Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka or Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for a semifinal spot.
“It’s fabulous that I can spend this time in Paris,” said Federer who last played the tournament in 2015 when he made the quarterfinals – where he lost to Wawrinka.
In the women’s draw, Konta proved that she had found her comfort zone on the red clay surging to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Donna Vekic.
Konta, who before this year had never won a match at the claycourt major in four previous appearances, struck 33 winners, including seven aces to dispatch the 23rd-seeded Croatian on the hottest day of the tournament so far, with temperatures set to rise to as high as 31 degrees Celsius. Konta will play either 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens or twice Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza for a spot in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Teenager Marketa Vondrousova continued to impress when she walloped Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-0 to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinals.
The 19-year-old Czech, who made quarterfinal appearances at Indian Wells and Miami and reached the final on clay in Istanbul this season, blew the 12th seed off court with a mix of power and guile from the baseline. She next faces Petra Martic.
Bopanna bows out
The men’s doubles pair of India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Marius Copil Sunday bowed out of the French Open after losing in the third round. The Indo-Romanian combination conceded a one-game advantage before going down 6-1, 5-7, 6-7 (8-10) to the Serbian pair of Dusan Lajovic and Janko Tipsarevic.
