Paris: Roger Federer overcame a rain delay as he defeated Stan Wawrinka in the Roland Garros quarterfinals to set up a mouth-watering semifinal clash against Rafael Nadal, Tuesday.
The Swiss World No.3 outclassed Wawrinka 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 at Philippe-Chatrier court thus becoming the oldest to reach at a Slam semifinal. Both the greats will face off each other in the high-voltage clash Friday.
Defending champion Nadal, bidding for a 12th title, blitzed a weary Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 to move into the last four.
Earlier Monday, Novak Djokovic became the first man to reach the tournament quarterfinals for 10 successive seasons while defending women’s champion Simona Halep swept into the last eight in just 45 minutes.
Top seed and World No.1 Djokovic continued his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time by thrashing Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The 32-year-old will now face fifth seed Alexander Zverev in the last-eight in Paris.
German fifth seed Zverev reached his second successive Roland Garros quarterfinal with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win over Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
However, French interest in the singles ended for another year just a few hours later when 14th seed Gael Monfils was defeated 4-6, 4-6, 2-6 by Austrian fourth seed Dominic Thiem, the 2018 runner-up.
The Austrian pulled off a memorable ‘tweener’ shot between his legs in the match. “When it goes in, it’s called a hot-shot,” said the 25-year-old.
Thiem will be playing in his fourth successive quarterfinal where he will face 10th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov who defeated two-time semifinalist and eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The 23-year-old Khachanov is the first Russian man to make the last eight in Paris since Mikhail Youzhny in 2010.
In the women’s draw, Halep reached her fourth French Open quarterfinal with a 45-minute thrashing of Polish teenager Iga Swiatek. The Romanian third seed raced to a 6-1, 6-0 win as Swiatek failed to hold serve in the match.
Halep will face American 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova, who defeated Spain’s Aliona Bolsova 6-3, 6-0, for a semifinal place. “Kind of perfect,” said Halep after her win.
World No.51 Anisimova, meanwhile, became the first player born in the 2000s – man or woman – to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
American 14th seed Madison Keys reached the quarterfinals for the second successive year with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova, the conqueror of US and Australian Open winner Naomi Osaka.
Keys, who went on to reach the semifinals in 2018, next faces Australian eighth seed Ashleigh Barty. “I was really happy to close it out as playing three sets in these heavy conditions does not sound like much fun,” said the 24-year-old Keys. Barty beat Sofia Kenin, who stunned Williams in the third round, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
