The results of the eighth day of Roland Garros: two Russians in the quarter-finals, Djokovic’s record and the departure of Kasatkina from Svitolina under the whistle of the stands

Athletistic/Tennis. On the eighth day of the 2023 French Open, the fourth round of the singles tournaments began.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaras booked their place in the quarter-finals by beating Juan Pablo Varillas and Lorenzo Musetti.

Stefanos Tsitsipas will play the quarter-final match against Alcaraz. Karen Khachanov will face Djokovic after beating Lorenzo Sonego.

In women’s singles, Elina Svitolina and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova have reserved their place for the quarter-finals. Thus, this year’s French Open has become the first Grand Slam tournament since the creation of the ATP and WTA rankings, which will feature two singles quarter-finalists ranked below 150 in the rankings.

Karolina Muchova and Arina Sobolenko also qualified for the quarter-finals, beating Elina Avanesyan and Sloane Stephens respectively.

Main results of the day:

Novak Djokovic sets new record for most men’s French Open quarter-final appearances

Novak Djokovic’s French Open race continued as he beat Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to secure a place in the quarter-finals. For the 17th time in his career, the Serb reached the quarter-finals on clay at Roland Garros, surpassing the result of Rafael Nadal (16).

Djokovic said in the post-match press conference that he was proud of his achievement.

Controversial suspension of Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi

The women’s doubles match between Miyu Kato/Aldila Sutjiadi and Marie Buzkova/Sara Sorribes Tormo is one of the most controversial moments at Roland-Garros 2023.

Buzkova and Sorribes Tormo won the first set 7-6, after which Kato and Sugiadi took a 3-1 lead in the second. At that moment, Kato inadvertently kicked the ball towards the girl serving her. She had been punched on the shoulder and looked visibly upset.

Tower judge Alexander Zhuget initially warned the Japanese, but then Buzkova and Sorribes Tormo insisted on disqualifying their rivals. Tournament supervisor Wayne McEwen announced that Kato and Sutjiadi had been disqualified despite the Japanese claiming the incident was unintentional. Kato was stripped of all prize money at Roland Garros, as well as points.

Daria Kasatkina flew away from Roland Garros at the whistle of the stands

Daria Kasatkina’s run at French Open came to an end when she lost to Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-7 in the fourth round of women’s singles.

Given that the match was between a Russian and a Ukrainian, some post-match drama was expected. Ukrainian players have recently adhered to the tradition of not shaking hands when meeting tennis players from Russia and Belarus.

After the match, Kasatkina approached the net, looked at Svitolina and gave her a thumbs up. The crowd booed the Russian woman for this, which clearly upset her. Later, these boos also angered various tennis fans around the world and they supported Kasatkina on the internet.

Two Russians left for Roland Garros

After the departure of Elina Avanesyan and Daria Kasatkina, only two Russians remained at Roland Garros – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Karen Khachanov.

Pavlyuchenkova in the 1/8 finals beat the 28th racket in the world Elise Mertens in three sets. The first match was left to the Belgian 6:3, but Pavlyuchenkova withdrew the second in a tie-break 7:6. Then, in the third set, Mertens twice took a medical time-out and lost it 3:6. Next, Pavlyuchenkova will play with Karlina Muchova of the Czech Republic, who eliminated Elina Avanesyan.

Karen Khachanov in the 1/8 final faced Lorenzo Sonego, the aggressor of Andrei Rublev, although the Italian started the match very well and won the first set 6:1. Khachanov won the second and third sets in an equal fight (6: 4 and 7: 6), and Sonego did not have enough strength for the fourth set and he lost it 1: 6. Then Khachanov will play with Novak Djokovic.

Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic