Swiatek stuns top seed Halep to reach quarters

Paris: Third seed Dominic Thiem survived a huge scare to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals for a fifth straight year yesterday, battling to a 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3 win over French wildcard Hugo Gaston, the world number 239. 

US Open champion Thiem, the runner-up to Rafael Nadal for the last two years in Paris, will face Argentine 12th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Diego Schwartzman continued his dominant run through the Roland Garros draw yesterday beating Lorenzo Sonego 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal into 14th RG  quarter-final

Rafael Nadal defeated American qualifier Sebastian Korda 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the 14th time yesterday, staying comfortably on course for a 13th French Open title and record-equalling 20th Grand Slam crown. 

Second seed Nadal racked up his 97th win at the tournament against just two defeats since his title-winning debut in 2005. 

He goes on to face Italian teenager Jannik Sinner in what will be his 42nd career appearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam.

Sinner became the first debutant to reach the French Open quarter-finals since Rafael Nadal in 2005 when he downed German sixth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 yesterday.

Women’s Singles

Top seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep was sent crashing out of Roland Garros on Sunday when Polish teenager Iga Swiatek stormed to a shock 6-1, 6-2 victory to reach the quarter-finals. 

Swiatek, just 19 and ranked 54 in the world, will take on Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, who beat Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens, for a place in the semi-finals. 

The 26-year-old Trevisan, ranked 159, registered a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory to advance to the quarter-finals.