PARIS — Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz had advanced to the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Jabeur slid into the quarter-finals for the second time when she earned a hard-fought 6-4 6-4 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson. Jabeur will now square off against Coco Gauff, the No.3 seed and reigning US Open champion.
World number nine Jabeur broke the 72nd-ranked Tauson’s service in a tight third game and nearly dropped her own right afterwards in a marathon 26-point game but held firm and went on to clinch the first set.
With a superb passing shot, the 29-year-old Tunisian immediately took the lead in the second set but could not hold it and had to wait until the fifth game to break again as Tauson hit two mistimed unforced errors, Reuters reported.
Tauson, who defeated 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round and former runner-up Sofia Kenin in the third, nearly drew level in the 10th game but Jabeur kept the upper hand to wrap up victory in little over an hour and a half.
Jabeur waved her arms and bounced up and down while singing along with fans during her post-match interview on court, later saying that the song was a mix of Arabic, French and Italian that she loosely translated as “it’s incredible, step by step to the final”.
Jabeur, targeting a first Grand Slam title after finishing runner-up twice at Wimbledon and at the US Open last year, will face world number three Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals.
“It’s going to be difficult. She’s such a fighter,” Jabeur said of the American.
“I know I can bother her also but it’s going to be a great match,” she noted.
“I think [Tauson] hits the ball really well, really hard,” Jabeur said, after the win. “She has a good serve, but I was trying not to really bother her with my slices and kind of play the whole court.
“I think it really worked well because at certain times she didn’t know where to move exactly,” Jabeur explained according to wtatennis.com.
Gauff leads their head-to-head 4-2 overall, 2-1 on clay, and 1-0 at Roland Garros. Gauff beat Jabeur 6-3, 6-1 in the 2021 Roland Garros Round of 16, when they were both ranked just outside the Top 20.
“I love how Coco plays, and I love how Coco talks in general,” Jabeur said. “I think she’s really mature for her age. She’s really an amazing person as well.
“It’s going to be definitely a difficult match. She’s such a fighter on the court. I hope I can play good and I can play my game because I know I can bother her as well. But it’s going to be definitely a great fight between us.”
“It was obviously a difficult beginning of the year, but it’s expected with the hard court,” Jabeur said. “It’s a bit tougher on my knee. I did a lot of treatment, a lot of rehab.
“I think the clay definitely suits me much better and helps me to move better, but I think, you know, six months of not playing really well [also] did help a lot. In my mind, it’s two years.”
Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time in reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the third consecutive year on Sunday, when he dispatched Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to gain parity in the pair’s Lexus ATP series.
The Spaniard played front-foot tennis throughout the two-hour, 20-minute clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier to advance 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
“I am really happy with my performance,” Alcaraz said. “I think I played a really high level of tennis. Really focused, no ups and downs in the match. That is something I am working on.
“I am really happy with everything, my serve, my movement, my shots. I know that Felix is a great player and playing great tennis. The Head2Head he was up and I was looking forward to being equal with him. I am really happy to get the win in the end.”
Alcaraz was at his fluid best for large periods to earn his 22nd win of the season. The 21-year-old hit with clean timing from the baseline to pull around Auger-Aliassime, who struggled with a groin injury from midway through the second set.
Alcaraz found joy with his drop shot and struck a number of stunning passes to bring the crowd to their feet. He controlled the tempo of the match and notched 33 winners according to Infosys Stats to improve to 3-3 in his Lexus ATP series with Auger-Aliassime.
“I think I had to put as many returns in as I could and getting in the rallies,” Alcaraz said.
“I feel strong in the rallies, playing five, six, seven shots in every point. I was going to have my chances to break his serve and to be with a good intensity in the match and I think that helped me get a good rhythm, to get my good tennis and to beat him.”
Into his eighth major quarter-final, Alcaraz will next play Tsitsipas after the 2021 finalist beat Italian Matteo Arnaldi in four sets. Alcaraz defeated Tsitsipas in straight sets at the same stage in Paris last year.
“I am really looking forward to playing this match,” Alcaraz said on facing Tsitsipas. “I love this kind of challenge, these matches. I have seen a lot of matches lately from Stefanos and I know he is playing great and has a lot of confidence right now. But I think I have the key against him so will try to put the shots that put him in trouble. I will try to show my best.”
Alcaraz is seeking his third major title after winning the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023. Earlier this season, the Spaniard lifted his fifth ATP Masters 1000 trophy at Indian Wells.
He missed the Masters 1000 event in Rome in the leadup to Roland Garros due to a right arm injury but has looked comfortable through his opening four matches in the French capital, dropping just one set.
