Tennis: Djokovic, Zverev eye semi-finals, US hope for double

Novak Djokovic can reach a 32nd Grand Slam semi-final on Tuesday when the 12-time major winner faces unseeded Italian Marco Cecchinato in the last-eight of the French Open.

Alexander Zverev, the second seeded German, is in his first quarter-final at the majors where he faces Dominic Thiem who has made the semi-finals in Paris in the last two years.

With world number two Caroline Wozniacki and defending champion Jelena Ostapenko already eliminated, the bottom half of the women's draw has been throw wide open.

World number 98 Yulia Putintseva, a quarter-finalist two years ago, tackles Madison Keys of the United States.

Keys's close friend Sloane Stephens, the US Open champion, takes on Russia's Daria Kasatkina who put out Wozniacki.

Novak Djokovic vs Marco Cecchinato

2016 champion Djokovic, in a 12th Roland Garros quarter-final and 40th at the majors, is bidding to reach his 32nd Grand Slam semi-final when he faces world number 72 Cecchinato.

Playing at his lowest ranking for almost 12 years after months of struggling with an elbow injury and indifferent form, Djokovic has made the last eight by dropping just one set.

Cecchinato is bidding to become the first Italian man to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam since Corrado Barazzutti in Paris in 1978.

The Italian, who has one career title to Djokovic's 68, had never won a match at the majors before this year's French Open.

Two years ago, his career was almost derailed when he became embroiled in match fixing allegations.

He was suspended for 18 months by the Italian tennis federation in July 2016 before later being cleared of any wrongdoing.

Alexander Zverev vs Dominic Thiem

Zverev is playing in a quarter-final at the Slams for the first time while Thiem has made the semi-finals in Paris for the last two years.

After fighting through three consecutive five-set match-wins, Zverev is still on track to be the first German men's champion at Roland Garros since 1937.

Even though he trails Thiem in their head-to-head, he won their most recent meeting on clay in the Madrid final this year.

Thiem boasts being the only player to have defeated Rafael Nadal on clay prior to Roland Garros this year in the Madrid quarter-finals, ending the 10-time French Open champion's 21-match winning streak on clay. It was the first time Nadal had dropped a set on clay since Thiem's victory against him in Rome in 2017.

Yulia Putintseva vs Madison Keys

Kazakhstan's Putintseva will be playing her second quarter-final at Roland Garros, but this time it has been more of a surprise after slipping to 98th in the world rankings.

Keys had always struggled on clay before this year, but has now reached the last eight at all four Grand Slams after impressively cruising through the draw without dropping a set.

"Once you get to the second week, every match obviously has more nerves, and there's more on the line and all of that," said last year's US Open runner-up. "So now it's really just managing your expectations and your nerves and the moment."

Sloane Stephens vs Daria Kasatkina

Like her compatriot and good friend Keys, US Open champion Stephens is in the quarter-finals for the first time and hoping to set up a repeat of last year's final in New York.

But the 10th seed will have to be wary of the dangerous Kasatkina, who saw off Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to notch her third consecutive win over the Australian Open winner.

The Russian also reached the Indian Wells final earlier this year, and has now won six times against players ranked in the world's top two.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Kyrgios lights up damp first day at French Open

PARIS - Australian Nick Kyrgios did his best to enliven a damp and dismal Parisian day with eye-catching play and habitual rants as the French Open began without some of its familiar settings on Sunday.

The volatile 17th seed mainly let his racket do the talking during an impressive 7-6(6) 7-6(6) 6-4 defeat of Italian debutant Marco Cecchinato, although he did receive a code violation for snapping at a ball boy in the first set.

Women's 10th seed Petra Kvitova was another early starter and was nearly sent packing in the opening skirmish on Philippe Chatrier Court, the twice Wimbledon champion coming within a game of defeat by Montenegro's Danka Kovinic.

She eventually won 6-2 4-6 7-5 in two hours 16 minutes watched by ticket holders wrapped up in colourful anoraks and with a multitude of umbrellas primed for action.

Long lines of fans formed outside Roland Garros as security was visibly beefed up in light of November's deadly attacks in the city and once inside the historic grounds there was a feeling that things were not quite where they should be.

Three courts, numbers seven, nine and 11, which used to flank the Chatrier showcourt, have disappeared, replaced by a muddy hole in the ground -- the start of a controversial re-development that will included a new stadium court by 2020.

Leafing through their programs the fans would also have noticed the name of Roger Federer absent from the men's draw for the first time since 1998 after the Swiss 17-times grand slam champion withdrew injured.

With rain dogging players and spectators throughout, an anti-climactic opening day was called off at around 6.30 p.m. local time with only 10 of the 32 scheduled matches completed.

At least Kyrgios, enjoying a consistent year which hints at a more level-headed approach, provided some entertainment for those huddled together on Court One.

The volatile 21-year-old fired down 17 aces and fended off two set points in the second-set tiebreak before dispatching 124th-ranked Cecchinato and setting up a second-round clash with Dutch lucky loser Igor Sijsling.

The match was not without some of the outbursts that have made Kyrgios one of the most talked-about players on Tour.

Towards the end of the first set he barked at a ballboy and was warned by umpire Carlos Ramos.

"A code violation for saying 'towel' loud?" Kyrgios said in a fiery exchange with Ramos.

"Now I've seen it all. That's bullshit... are you kidding?"

There was a maturity about his display though and he produced his best tennis when he needed it -- saving one set point with a nonchalant drop shot before taking control.

Kvitova, a semi-finalist in 2012, began confidently in light drizzle that followed the torrential early-morning rain, but from a position of strength got bogged down on the damp clay.

Kovinic served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but Kvitova roused herself to rattle off three games in a row.

"Definitely the serve," Kvitova, who racked up 10 double faults, said when asked what she needed to improve on.

Her fellow Czech Lucie Safarova, a surprise runner-up last year to Serena Williams, dropped only two games as she made short work of Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko.

Home favourite Benoit Paire, one of 16 Frenchman to start in the main draw, produced a topsy-turvy display against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot before winning in five sets.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza, the women's fourth seed, did not make it on court for her match against Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova while men's fifth seed Kei Nishikori did, but was interrupted by the rain when he was leading by two sets.

(Editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com