Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are closing in on a French Open rematch after both reached the fourth round on Saturday.
The pair contested a heated late-night quarter-final 12 months ago, with Ruud triumphing in four sets before Rune accused him of a “lack of class” for celebrating in his face, something the Norwegian denied.
They have played once since, in Rome a couple of weeks ago, when Rune gained some revenge, and will be favoured to clash in the last eight once again.
View this post on Instagram
Ruud went on to reach his first grand slam final here last year and then repeated the feat at the US Open, although he came out on the losing side both times.
This season has been a struggle by contrast but there are signs the 24-year-old is starting to find his form and he recovered from a set down to beat China’s Zhang Zhizhen 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-4.
“My level is getting better,” said Ruud. “I still feel like there are things I can improve and I can make less errors than I have done in some moments in my matches.
“So I still feel like there is a level that I haven’t played yet that I can bring out, and I will need to bring out now going into the second week, for sure.
“I’m very happy with being through the first three matches. It’s tough. For me this year it’s been much more pressure, obviously, compared to last year.”
Last year’s tournament was Rune’s breakthrough, and the young Dane has maintained his momentum, breaking into the top 10 and twice beating Novak Djokovic.
The 20-year-old is particularly strong on clay and he swatted aside Argentinian qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4 6-1 6-3.
Rune has only had to play two matches so far having been given a walkover by Gael Monfils in the second round.
“Luckily I haven’t used too much unnecessary energy during the tournament so far,” he said. “I’m in the fourth round and I can play better, so it’s a good thing. But obviously the matches are going to get harder and harder from now so I have to step up also.”
Next he faces Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who is through to the fourth round of a slam for the first time after upsetting eighth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5.
American Fritz was booed onto court after his shushing of the crowd on Thursday night but that had turned to cheers by the time he walked off.
Cerundolo was joined in the last 16 by countryman Tomas Etcheverry, who knocked out 15th seed Borna Coric 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-2, while 27th seed Yoshihito Nishioka ended the run of Daniil Medvedev’s conqueror Thiago Seyboth Wild in a five-set tussle.
Swiatek confirms split with coach Wiktorowski and Wuhan Open withdrawal
Iga Swiatek has announced the end of her three-year partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, saying the split was a mutual agreement.
Wiktorowski, who joined Swiatek's team in 2022, helped her become the first Polish player to reach world number one and she has since spent 123 weeks at the top of the rankings.
Swiatek also won 19 of her 22 career titles and an Olympic bronze medal in Paris earlier this year with Wiktorowski, along with four grand slam victories.
"After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways," Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
"I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together."
Swiatek has not competed since losing to Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the US Open, choosing to withdraw from the China Open due to personal reasons.
The 23-year-old has also pulled out of the recent Korea Open in Seoul, citing fatigue, and next week's Wuhan Open.
Swiatek won the French Open and US Open during her opening season with Wiktorowski, before embarking on a 37-match winning run in 2022 - the longest streak by a woman this century.
The Pole won a fifth grand slam, which was her fourth with Wiktorowski, at Roland Garros in June, making it three consecutive wins at the tournament in Paris.
"Coach Wiktorowski joined my team for three seasons, when I strongly needed changes and a fresh approach to my game," Swiatek continued.
"His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I've never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together."
But Swiatek was disappointed with her hard-court performances this season, exiting the Australian Open in the third round and the US Open in the last eight.
The Pole said she has held "first talks" with prospective new coaches and will take a "couple of weeks" to start work with her next appointment.
"Our main goal was to become number one player in the world and coach Wiktorowski was the one who said it first," Swiatek concluded.
"Due to this important change on my team, I give myself a couple of weeks to start cooperation with a new coach.
"I'm in the middle of first talks with coaches from abroad (non-Polish) because I'm ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision."
Medvedev rallies to straight-sets win in Shanghai opener
Daniil Medvedev held off a stern test from Thiago Seyboth Wild to edge through his Shanghai Masters opener on Friday.
The Russian won the tight contest in straight sets, prevailing 7-5 7-5 in just under two hours.
Seyboth Wild started brightly, superbly defending five break points in the opening game before breaking Medvedev to take a 3-1 lead.
A three-game winning run at the end of the first set was enough for the world number five to edge in front.
The Brazilian made another strong start in the second but was his own worst enemy as he racked up 47 unforced errors throughout the match to Medvedev's 28.
Despite going down a break again, Medvedev rallied, staying patient to mount another comeback and book his place in the next round against Matteo Arnaldi.
Data Debrief: Patience pays off
Last year, Seyboth Wild stunned Medvedev in the opening round at Roland Garros, as his high-risk, high-reward method paid off and he earned the win with 69 winners and 77 unforced errors.
Despite pushing the 28-year-old all the way, it did not garner the same reward this time around, despite getting 29 winners to Medvedev's 17.
Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing quarter-finals
Karolina Muchova secured an upset at the China Open, snapping Aryna Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak to reach the semi-finals.
The Czech prevailed in two hours and 48 minutes with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 win over the number one seed on Friday.
Muchova started strong, forcing Sabalenka to defend three break points in the opening game, but they were evenly matched throughout.
Sabalenka almost took the first set, but Muchova held her nerve, successfully fighting back against two set points before taking the tie-break.
The Belarusian looked back to her free-flowing best in the second though, earning two breaks as she forced the decider in comfortable fashion.
Sabalenka took an early lead in the final set, but from 4-2 down, Muchova clawed her way back, going on a four-game winning streak at the end to book a meeting with Qinwen Zheng or Mirra Andreeva in the final four.
Data Debrief: Czech mate
Given Sabalenka's recent hot streak, this does look like an upset, but it is actually pretty run-of-the-mill for Muchova.
She has now won her last three matches against Sabalenka in WTA events, defeating her at Cincinnati, Roland Garros 2023 and China Open 2024.
Excluding the BJK Cup, only Iga Swiatek (85.3%) has a higher winning percentage than Muchova on hard-court in WTA events during 2024 (84.6%, 11-2), surpassing Sabalenka (82.5%, 33-7).
The 28-year-old has reached just her second career semi-final and is the player with the fewest WTA-1000 wins during the season before the start of the China Open (one) to reach this stage of the tournament.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
