French Open day nine: Tsitsipas ‘hungry to beat these kids’, Djokovic and Nadal set for blockbuster

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Daniil Medvedev down and out

Danish teenager Holger Rune stunned Greek fourth seed and last year’s runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas while second seed Daniil Medvedev was also a surprise casualty at the French Open.

World No 2 Medvedev went down in straight sets to Croatian veteran Marin Cilic.

World number one Iga Swiatek dropped a set for the first time at the tournament but got past Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen in three.

Here is a look back at day nine at the French Open.

Picture of the day

Aneke Rune

Proud mum Aneke Rune celebrates her son’s win (Christophe Ena/AP)

Match of the day

Rune had not won a match at a Grand Slam before arriving in Paris last week, but the rookie battled to a thrilling victory over an out-of-sorts Tsitsipas, winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on a packed Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Shot of the day

Zheng Qinwen’s drop shots had Swiatek scrambling at times during the top seed’s win.

Quote of the day

“These kids are going to want to beat me badly because obviously they are chasing. I’m hungry to beat them too.” – Stefanos Tsitsipas

Fans of the day

Lucky these boys aren’t fans of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Stat of the day

With Rune joining fellow 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals it is the first time two teenage men have reached the last eight of a Grand Slam since the 1994 French Open.

Brit watch

Not a vintage day. Neal Skupski and America’s Desirae Krawczyk bowed out in the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles, losing a match tie-break 10-8 to Ulrikke Eikeri and Joran Vliegen. Lloyd Glasspool and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara lost in the men’s doubles to Matwe Middelkoop and Rohan Bopanna.

Fallen seeds

Daniil Medvedev down and out

Daniil Medvedev crashed out in the night match (Jean-Francois Badias/AP)

Women: Madison Keys (22), Camila Giorgi (28)

Men: Daniil Medvedev (2), Stefanos Tsitsipas (4), Jannick Sinner (11), Hubert Hurkacz (12)

Up next

It has been the most hotly-anticipated match since the draw was made. Rafael Nadal, the 13-time winner, takes on defending champion and world No 1 Novak Djokovic for a place in the semi-finals.

It will be the 59th time the duo, with 41 Grand Slam titles between them, have met. The box-office showdown is the night match, starting around 7.45pm UK time.

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