Coco Gauff is gunning for revenge against Iga Swiatek when they clash in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Gauff reached her first grand slam singles final here last year and was handed a heavy beating by Swiatek, who claimed her second Roland Garros title.
Their rivalry is a one-sided 6-0 to the Pole, with Gauff yet to win a set, but the teenager said: “Honestly, since last year I have been wanting to play her, especially at this tournament.
“I figured that it was going to happen because I figured I was going to do well and she was going to do well. Didn’t know what side of the draw we were going to be on, obviously.
“But I’m the type of mentality, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I think also, if you want to improve, you have to play the best.
“I feel like, the way my career has gone so far, if I see a level, and if I’m not quite there at that level, I know I have to improve. I think it would be almost cowardly to say that I want to not face the noise and not face the challenge, but I think that I’m up for it.
“I have improved a lot since last year, and she has too. I think it would be a great battle for us and for the fans, too.”
Gauff is again showing excellent form in Paris and she reached the quarter-finals for the third successive year with a 7-5 6-2 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Swiatek, meanwhile, has lost only nine games in her four matches, although she was given a helping hand when Ukrainian opponent Lesia Tsurenko retired through illness trailing 5-1 in the opening set.
Swiatek again raced out of the blocks, moving into a 4-0 lead before her run of 23 straight games across three matches came to an end.
Tsurenko called the doctor and trainer after getting on the board but played only one more game before calling it a day.
Seventh seed Ons Jabeur eased into the last eight with a 6-3 6-1 victory over American Bernarda Pera.
The Tunisian, who reached the final at both Wimbledon and the US Open last year, has struggled with injury in 2023 but is through to the quarter-finals here for the first time.
“It was the only grand slam missing,” said Jabeur. “I’m very happy with the performance, with the way I was, playing, especially coming back after an injury.
“I was just taking it one match at a time, trying to make it to the second week. Now I’m going to push more for the next few matches.”
In the last eight she will meet Beatriz Haddad Maia, who needed a mammoth three hours and 51 minutes to get past Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-7 (3) 6-3 7-5.
It was the longest women’s match of the year and the longest at Roland Garros since 1995, with Haddad Maia becoming the first Brazilian to reach the women’s singles quarter-finals since Maria Bueno 55 years ago.
“All the matches that I play I prepare myself for the toughest moments,” said the 14th seed. “So I know that Sara will bring the balls. She defends very well. I knew that the ball was coming again.
“I had to be aggressive. So I was prepared for that. I was trying to be as aggressive as I could to finish the point, to go to the net. I work very hard on my body, as well, so I believe in myself when we have tough moments.”
Daniil Medvedev credited his ability to "block out the noise" as crucial in getting his ATP Finals campaign up and running with a straight-sets victory over Alex de Minaur.
Medvedev, who lost his opening game of the tournament to Taylor Fritz, returned to winning ways with a 6-2 6-4 triumph over the Australian in 78 minutes on Tuesday.
The Russian cut a frustrated figure in his defeat to Fritz on Sunday, breaking his racket and was docked a point after serving a third consecutive double fault during the encounter.
However, the fourth seed produced an expertly measured performance, winning 20 out of 31 baseline points in the opening set to claim the early advantage.
The second set was more evenly contested, but Medvedev secured a crucial break point in the ninth game, going on to seal his first top 10 win on hard courts since March.
"After the last match I was too tired to fight mentally the way I do and so, during the match, when it doesn't work your way, you want to win and when you start losing you get frustrated," Medvedev said.
"So I went into this match thinking, if I lose I go home on Thursday for sure and if I win then I have the chance to have a good feeling. I tried to hit some shots and it worked well and I'm ok with it.
"A lot of football players do it [block the noise]. It's more about social media and for sure after my performance with Taylor and some of my comments ... I tried to read it less.
"I went into this match trying to block the noise even from myself, so no tantrums and I really didn't care what was happening on the court."
Medvedev will seek to bolster his hopes of progressing from the John Newcombe Group when he takes on Jannik Sinner next, with the Italian in action against Fritz later on Tuesday.
Data Debrief: Cool, calm and collected
Medvedev kept his hopes of sealing a second ATP Finals crown alive with a composed display against De Minaur, improving his record to 45-19 for the season.
While the Russian produced more unforced errors (18) than De Minaur (15), Medvedev showed his quality by hitting 24 winners, 14 of which came with his forehand.
Medvedev also claimed his sixth top 10 win of 2024, while also improving his head-to-head record against his Australian opponent to 7-3, avenging his defeat in the French Open round of 16 earlier this year.
Osaka has set sights on grand slam title – Mouratoglou
Naomi Osaka is targeting a fifth grand slam win of her career, so says Patrick Mouratoglou.
Osaka, who has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open twice, will head into 2025 as the world number 59.
The former world number one has had a stop-start career in recent years, as she took time away from the sport to focus on her mental health, before then giving birth.
She has taken part in 18 WTA Tour-level competitions this season, with her best effort a run to the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open in February.
Mouratoglou, a former coach of Serena Williams, has been helping to guide the 27-year-old, and he explained Osaka has set her sights on another major crown.
"[With] Serena, motivation was extremely key after she beat the record of [Martina] Navratilova and Chris Evert [to reach 23 Grand Slam singles titles]," he told Sky Sports.
"But I think we worked so well together because I think we were both motivating each other all the time. I knew exactly how to talk to her. She knew exactly how to talk to me. I was pushing her, she was pushing me and that was like that every day.
"So that's why it works so well. For Naomi, it's different because she really feels she has to give and do much more. She had two very difficult years.
"First, she had this mental health issue, and then she had a baby. So she's been out, and then she restarted the year this season and it was not a very good season.
"Before the first tournament we did together she was 80 in the world and she knows she can do much better than that.
"She's extremely motivated to come back and win grand slams, and it's a pleasure for me because that's the dream of every coach: to have a player who has that level of motivation."
ATP Finals: In-form Zverev edges Rublev to kickstart hat-trick hunt
Alexander Zverev insisted improvements needed to be made despite kickstarting his ATP Finals campaign with a straight-set triumph over Andrey Rublev on Monday.
Zverev, who is going in search of a third crown at the year-end tournament, emerged a 6-4 6-4 victor in 72 minutes in Turin to claim a Tour-leading 67th win of 2024.
Rublev, however, got off to a blistering start to the encounter, winning each of his 13 points on serve, only for a lapse in the seventh game that allowed Zverev to take the opening set.
Zverev continued to trade blows with his opponent, but he claimed the decisive break point in the ninth game to maintain his dominant record in opening round-robin matches at the event (6-1).
"I'm looking forward to the next few matches, and hopefully I can improve on a few more things because I don't think this match was perfect to be honest," Zverev said.
"I still think there's a few more things that can be better. I missed a few balls from the baseline and I feel I wasn't as sharp movement-wise as I would like to be."
Zverev joined Casper Ruud at the top of the John Newcombe Group after he had beaten Carlos Alcaraz earlier on Monday, with the Norwegian up next for the world number two.
Data Debrief: Alexander the Great
After winning the ATP Finals in 2018 and 2021, Zverev's performance against the big-hitting Rublev was a sign of his intentions to complete a hat-trick of victories at the year-end tournament.
The German struck 22 winners compared to his opponents' 10, along with converting both break points he was presented with.
Excluding the Laver Cup, Zverev also claimed the 50th ATP top 10 win of his career, becoming the first player born since 1990 to achieve the feat.
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