French Open day nine: Coco Gauff has cake for breakfast, tennis’ baby boom continues

French Open

We look back at day nine of the 2023 French Open as Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff set up a rematch of last year’s final at Roland Garros.

The pair both moved through to the quarter-finals, with Gauff beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Swiatek leading 5-1 when Lesia Tsurenko retired through illness.

There will also be a rematch between Holger Rune and Casper Ruud, who engaged in a fiery battle in the last eight a year ago, while Alexander Zverev continued his strong form in the night session with victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

But the sport is also looking forward to some tasty quarter-final clashes in Paris on Tuesday.

Picture of the day

Tomas Etcheverry during a match

Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry celebrates reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time (Jean-Francois Badias/AP)

Quote of the day

My agent was like, ‘Why are you eating chocolate cake for breakfast’ and I was like, ‘We’re in Paris, who cares?’ – Coco Gauff

Shot of the day

Holger Rune pulled a rabbit out of a hat while he was up against it during his thrilling clash against Francisco Cerundolo. He eventually came away with a 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory.

Tweet of the day

The tennis baby boom continues as former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro announced the birth of twins.

Stat of the day

Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian to reach a quarter-final Grand Slam in 55 years and she did so in style.

Fallen seeds

Men: Francisco Cerundolo (23), Yoshihito Nishioka (27), Grigor Dimitrov (28)
Women: None

Who’s up next?

Aryna Sabalenka takes on Elina Svitolina in the highest-profile clash between a Belarusian or Russian athlete and a Ukrainian since the war began.

The night session sees the biggest clash of the men’s tournament so far between top seed Carlos Alcaraz and former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Novak Djokovic takes on Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova meets Karolina Muchova in an all-unseeded match.

Beatriz Haddad Maia Carla Suarez Navarro Casper Ruud Holger Rune

Latest