Emma Raducanu became the third successive major winner to lose to Anhelina Kalinina as the Ukrainian reached her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final at the Madrid Open.
Ninth-seed Raducanu was the biggest name in action on Tuesday and had been hoping to rack up three successive WTA Tour victories for the first time since her incredible US Open success in September last year.
But Kalinina, who saw off Sloane Stephens and Garbine Muguruza in her two previous matches, got the better of the Brit in an entertaining 6-2 2-6 6-4 win.
Raducanu had not dropped a set in either of her first two outings in Madrid but Kalinina quickly put an end to that.
While the teenager responded well in the second, getting an important break to make it 3-1, Kalinina rallied again in what was a closer deciding set.
The pair traded breaks and then Kalinina got another to set her en route to victory at 5-4 – she had to save one more break point but did ultimately see off Raducanu to book a clash with Jil Teichmann in the last eight.
Teichmann beat Elena Rybakina earlier in the day, dispatching the 16th seed in impressively comfortable fashion as she won 6-3 6-1.
Progression from the last eight for Teichmann will see her reach the semi-final of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.
Sara Sorribes Tormo, the last Spaniard left in the draw, defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4 1-6 6-3 in something of a rollercoaster ride to line up a quarter-final contest with 12th seed Jessica Pegula.
The American kept her focus despite opponent Bianca Andreescu needing a medical timeout and rain causing a 30-minute halt, eventually winning 7-5 6-1.
French Open day nine: Iga Swiatek sets up Coco Gauff quarter-final
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff will meet in a rematch of last year’s French Open final.
The pair both moved through to the quarter-finals, with Gauff beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Swiatek leading 5-1 when Lesia Tsurenko retired through illness.
There will also be a rematch between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud, who engaged in a fiery battle in the last eight a year ago, while Alexander Zverev continued his strong form in the night session with victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
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Former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro announced the birth of twins.
Stat of the dayFallen seeds
Men: Francisco Cerundolo (23), Yoshihito Nishioka (27), Grigor Dimitrov (28)
Women: None
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Aryna Sabalenka takes on Elina Svitolina in the highest-profile clash between a Belarusian or Russian athlete and a Ukrainian since the war began.
The night session sees the biggest clash of the men’s tournament so far between top seed Carlos Alcaraz and former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Novak Djokovic takes on Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meets Karolina Muchova in an all-unseeded match.
Tearful Miyu Kato makes a winning return to action after ball girl controversy
A tearful Miyu Kato returned to Court 14 at the French Open a day after her controversial disqualification.
The Japanese player and her women’s doubles partner Aldila Sutjiadi were defaulted during their third-round clash with Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo after Kato accidentally hit a ball girl with a ball.
The 28-year-old was allowed to continue in mixed doubles with German partner Tim Puetz and, back on the same court, the pair defeated Brazilians Luisa Stefani and Rafael Matos to reach the semi-finals.
There has been a lot of support for Kato since the incident from within the locker room and, as the crowd gave her and Puetz a prolonged round of applause, the Japanese player began to cry before being consoled by her partner.
Kato, who apologised on Twitter on Sunday evening, was in tears again in the press room and had to briefly leave her press conference before answering questions only in Japanese.
It is believed she has appealed against the disqualification in the hope of keeping her prize money and ranking points, which would normally be forfeited in such situations.
Puetz said: “I think, first and foremost, we’re all, including Miyu, happy that the ball girl is OK, because obviously she got hit. It’s a little girl on Court 14. For them they’re very excited to be there. I think you saw she was distraught.
“Besides that, I’m sure Miyu feels terrible about what happened. This was just very unfortunate for everyone, especially for her and the girl.”
Kato was returning a ball to the other end of the court after a point had finished but the ball girl reacted too late and it struck her on the neck.
The umpire initially gave a warning but, with Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo pointing out the distress of the ball girl, the supervisor and referee were called and, after lengthy discussions, opted to default Kato and Sutjiadi.
The decision has drawn widespread criticism from within tennis, but Puetz had sympathy for the officials, saying: “All they see is a crying ball girl who got hit with a ball. In that moment, to make that decision is very difficult.
“While I don’t necessarily agree with it, I think I can understand how you would get to that decision. It’s much easier now looking at the pictures and then comparing to some other instances in the past years. Yeah, I think it’s very easy to say, ‘No, she should not have been defaulted’.”
Bouzkova and Sorribes Tormo have faced heavy criticism on social media for appearing to try to force the default, but the Spaniard insisted they did nothing wrong.
“It’s a very bad situation that happened yesterday,” said Sorribes Tormo. “Also, for Marie and for me, it’s tough to have all this kind of things that people are saying.
“It’s not easy because the only thing we’ve done yesterday was going to the referee and explain to him what happened.
“So, first of all, we were saying that the ball kid was crying because we were scared, because we were, ‘Oh, something happened’. Then we were saying that the ball was direct because he didn’t see the ball.
“All the rest, the decision was taken by the supervisor, and I think it’s not our thing or we haven’t done anything bad.”
Puetz now hopes Kato can write a happier ending to her fortnight at Roland Garros.
The German said: “I was happy yesterday when we got the call that we will be allowed to play mixed. Not because I care too much about the mixed, it’s just because hopefully she can kind of move on.
“I’m happy that we can still play a couple of matches here and just hopefully add some good memories to kind of get over it as well instead of just leaving Paris with that really crappy feeling with what happened yesterday.”
Coco Gauff hopes for an improved showing against Iga Swiatek at French Open
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.”
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