French Open day nine: Djokovic and Nadal see off challenges from next generation
The story of the ninth day of action at Roland Garros.
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Your support makes all the difference.Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal fought off a challenge from the next generation in contrasting fashions to stay on track for a French Open semi-final meeting.
Djokovic fought back from two sets down against Lorenzo Musetti while Nadal was a straight-sets winner over another 19-year-old Italian, Jannik Sinner.
Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek continued to look impressive, downing Marta Kostyuk in the night session, while fourth seed Sofia Kenin was beaten by Maria Sakkari and 17-year-old Coco Gauff reached her first grand slam quarter-final.
Picture of the day
Stat of the day
Friends and rivals
Coco winning off court too
Gauff was thrilled to be through to the quarter-finals, but perhaps even happier to be at the top of the family leaderboard for the card game UNO.
Chip off the block
There was a notable first for one of the most famous names in tennis as Leo Borg, 18-year-old son of Bjorn, won his first match at a junior grand slam. Leo, who played his father as a child in the 2017 Borg Vs McEnroe film, accepts there is no point getting annoyed at comparisons.
He said: “I was having a hard time when I was a little bit younger. I’m getting used to it and I can control it more. I just have to control it because it’s going to be following me all my tennis career. It doesn’t bother me. I’m just focusing on my goal and my tennis.”
Fallen seeds
Women: Sofia Kenin (4), Ons Jabeur (25)Men: Jannik Sinner (18)
Who’s up next?
The quarter-finals get under way on Tuesday, and Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have to wait until the night session for the match of the day.
Alexander Zverev will take on outsider Alejandro Davidovich Fokina while the women’s quarter-finals feature four unexpected names in Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Elena Rybakina, Paula Badosa and Tamara Zidansek.
Joe Salisbury bids to reach another grand slam final in mixed doubles partnering American Desirae Krawczyk.