Tops
The queen of Roland-Garros is not yet queen of England but she can still dream of a first coronation at Wimbledon. And she came back from afar against the Olympic champion Belinda Bencic. The world number one thus saved two match points with authority on Sunday before taming the Swiss 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, after an arm of iron for more than three hours. The 22-year-old Pole, who had never passed the round of 16 on the London lawn, will find Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (76th) on Tuesday, who also won a terrible fight of 3 hours 01 against the Belarusian Viktoria Azarenka, after the super suffocating tie-break 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9). Surprise quarter-finalist at Roland-Garros, just eight months after giving birth to her first child, the Ukrainian brilliantly honors the invitation she received to play in London.
The 16-year-old Russian prodigy had already been the revelation of Roland-Garros. Having become the youngest qualified in Paris since Amélie Mauresmo (15 years and 10 months) in 1995, she had only yielded in the 3rd round against Coco Gauff for her first Grand Slam tournament. In London, she again pulled herself out of qualifying to do better in the big picture. Already falling, during her first two rounds, of the Chinese Xiyu Wang, 65th player in the world, then of the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, 11th player in the world, seeded n ° 10 and forced to retire, Andreeva mastered her compatriot on Sunday Anastasia Potapova, world 23rd 6-2, 7-5 and became the fourth youngest player to qualify at this stage of the competition, a Grand Slam, since 2000.
It is certainly one of the best points since the start of the tournament. His author ? Andrey Rublev. Opposed to the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, this Sunday in the round of 16, the 7th world winner at the end of the suspense (7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (6), 6-4), has managed a beautiful dive in the last game of the match at 30–15, when serving for qualification. Rublev countered a backhand down the line, accompanying his winning dive with a shout to earn himself two match points.
Flops
It is therefore not only at Roland-Garros where spectators have concerns with geopolitics. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Ukrainian players have chosen not to greet their Russian and Belarusian opponents. After his incredible showdown against Azarenka, Svitolina therefore did not greet his opponent, who for his part nevertheless gave him a sign of the racket. And it was the Belarusian who received the whistles when she left court 1, from an audience probably ignorant of the context… Unfair for the former world number one who deserved the ovation as much as her brave opponent , at the end of the magnificent fight delivered by the two champions.
Without taking credit away from the Russian Roman Safiullin, 92nd player in the world, and surprise quarter-finalist at 25, it was above all Denis Shapovalov beaten (3-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3) who lost his Round of 16 this Sunday. And miss the golden chance offered to him to reach the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time in a year and a half. It must be said that the finalist of the 2019 edition ended the match limping, visibly in pain. “I hope to be able to solve the problem of my knee. It’s hard to play tennis when you’re impaired. The pain got worse as the game progressed and the impact on the knee got bigger and bigger.
“Some players play better when they’re frustrated and angry, others when they’re calm, and I think that’s my case,” Jannik Sinner told Le Figaro in February. The Italian won without shining against the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, 85th in the world (7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-3). A severe score for Galan who disrupted a very feverish seeded 8 for a set and a half. Surprisingly unrealistic, Sinner had to wait for his 15th opportunity to finally steal the opposing serve. Which must have frustrated the Italian who came out of his hinges at the start of the second set to challenge one or more decisions of the chair umpire. An unusual nervous breakdown for the placid Transalpin quarter-finalist for the second consecutive time at Church Road, the Italian, who will still be a big favorite against Safiullin in the quarters.
