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

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
Match of the day
Historic Holger
19-year-old @holgerrune2003 becomes the first Danish man to reach the quarter-finals in tournament history stunning Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Z9Oo3TkhAn
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
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
Working like a charm #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/0VuujVrU07
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
Zheng Qinwen’s drop shots had Swiatek scrambling at times during the top seed’s win.
Quote of the day
Fans of the day
Iga avengers, assemble #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/acbOzEuIvU
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
Lucky these boys aren’t fans of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Stat of the day
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
Women: Madison Keys (22), Camila Giorgi (28)
Men: Daniil Medvedev (2), Stefanos Tsitsipas (4), Jannick Sinner (11), Hubert Hurkacz (12)
Up next
For a spot in the semi-finals #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/I6u4yKUTUa
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
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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