Chronicle Editor
Serena Williams’ latest quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title ended with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat by Kazakh 21st seed Elena Rybakina in the French Open last 16 on Sunday.
The 39-year-old American, still one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record of most Grand Slam singles titles, has not gone beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros since losing the 2016 final.
Russian-born Rybakina, 21, extended her best run at a major as she advanced to her first quarterfinal, where she will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the last four.
“I am so happy with my match, it was amazing,” said Rybakina, who at 22 is the highest-ranked player left in her half of the draw.
“Of course I was nervous, I was not serving that well in the game before, but I am happy that I managed to control them in the end.”
The exit of Williams leaves just two of the women’s top 10 seeds in the competition, reigning champion Iga Swiatek and last year’s runner-up Sofia Kenin.
It is another missed opportunity for Williams, who despite arriving in Paris with just one win on clay this season, had seen her hopes of a fourth French Open crown boosted by the absence of Simona Halep, and early exits of Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka.
Tamara Zidansek became the first woman from Slovenia to reach the singles quarterfinals of a Grand Slam with a 7-6(4) 6-1 victory over unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea.
The pair traded breaks in the first two games of a tight opening set on Court Suzanne Lenglen before Zidansek raised her level in the tiebreak to take the advantage in the match when an error-prone Cirstea hit a wild forehand wide.
World number 85 Zidansek had never been beyond the second round at a Grand Slam before this year’s tournament in Paris but it was 2009 Roland Garros quarterfinalist Cirstea who showed signs of nerves at the start of the second set.
The 23-year-old Zidansek became more aggressive as Cirstea struggled to move freely because of an ankle issue and raced ahead 5-0 before closing out the victory in 86 minutes.
Zidansek will face 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova or Spain’s Paula Badosa in the last eight.
Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova rolled back the years as she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the first time since 2011 by beating former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka 5-7 6-3 6-2
The 31st seed, who will play in the last eight of a Grand Slam for the seventh time but has never progressed further, sent down 44 winners in a display of constant aggression on a sun-kissed Philippe Chatrier court.
She will next face either 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams or Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
“It’s incredible that I’m still playing tennis 10 years after, so it comes as a bit of a surprise to me. I fought on every point and I’m really happy to go through,” said Pavlyuchenkova.
Belarusian Azarenka, seeded 15th, was a doubt for the claycourt major after withdrawing from the Madrid Open last month with back pain, but she had been solid so far.
Against Pavlyuchenkova, however, the 2020 US Open runner-up fell 3-1 behind after losing her first service game but she kept her cool to break back and steal her opponent’s serve in the 11th game before holding to bag the opening set.
She dropped serve three times in a see-saw second set and Pavlyuchenkova took even more risks in the decider.
The Russian was rewarded with a break for 3-2 and she did not release her grip until Azarenka buried a backhand into the net on match point.
Paula Badosa reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal when she beat former finalist Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 3-6 6-2, with her aggressive baseline play outclassing the Czech 20th seed on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday.
The players traded breaks in the opening stages and were level at 4-4 when Badosa broke again before keeping her nerve to save two break points in the final game to seal the opening set.
While Badosa thrived on the longer rallies, Vondrousova looked to finish points quickly and the Czech claimed the crucial break to go up 4-2 before serving out the second set to take it into a decider.
Vondrousova’s fatigue was in stark contrast to the energy of Badosa, who broke twice to take a 4-1 lead in the final set.
The Spaniard broke a third time in the final game, when Vondrousova’s return on her second match point went long, to set up a quarterfinal clash with unseeded Slovenian Tamara Zidansek.-Wires.
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