Paris, June 6 (IANS) Top seed and World No.1 Iga Swiatek reached the women’s singles quarterfinals at the French Open when her opponent Lesia Tsurenko retired while trailing 5-1 in the first set even as No.14 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 55 years.
Swiatek’s fourth-round match lasted just 31 minutes as her opponent, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko was forced to retire from the match while trailing 1-5.
No.14 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia made history thanks to a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.
In the quarterfinals, the two-time Roland-Garros champion Swiatek will square off with Coco Gauff, who lost to Swiatek in last year’s final.
On Monday, American teenager Gauff posted a 7-5, 6-2 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to reach a third Roland-Garros quarterfinal in as many years.
A runner-up in Paris 12 months ago, The American No.6 seed had won her last 36 matches against players outside the Top 50, including three wins so far in Paris, entering Monday’s tilt against No.100 Schmiedlova on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and extended that unbeaten run with a 1 hour, 31-minute triumph in windy conditions.
Gauff raced out of the gates quickly to lead 5-2 in the opener but needed a stretch of additional games to wrap up a one-set lead.
After having a set point in the seventh game Gauff lost three in a row, but rebounded in the closing moments from 5-5, 30-30 on the Schmiedlova serve to win the last six points.
She also won the last five games of the match, improving her head-to-head record against Schmiedlova to 2-0.
Gauff has never won a set in six career matches against Swiatek. While she said her mind hasn’t lingered on the thought of last year’s final much, it’s going to be a match she’ll watch again in the next 24 hours for tactics.
The day, however, belonged to No.14 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who won a 3 hour, 51 minutes match – the longest women’s match of the tournament – to become the first Brazilian woman since Maria Bueno in 1968 to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
Haddad Maia is only the second Brazilian woman to reach a major quarterfinal in the Open Era after Bueno, who last reached a Slam quarterfinal at the 1968 US Open (went on to reach the semis). Bueno reached at least the quarters in the first three Slams of the Open Era – 1968 Roland-Garros, 1968 Wimbledon and 1968 US Open.
Next up for Haddad Maia is Tunisian No.7 seed Ons Jabeur, who advanced by defeating Bernarda Pera of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
–IANS
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