Cilic stuns Medvedev at French Open to set up clash with Rublev in quarter-finals
Holger Rune ousts No. 4 Tsitsipas, reaching 1st major quarter-final
It took until the fourth round, but now it's the high-seeded men who are exiting the French Open.
No. 2 Daniil Medvedev bowed out with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 loss to No. 20 Marin Cilic in a matchup between two past U.S. Open champions at Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday night.
Medvedev joins No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year's runner-up, on the way out of the bracket.
While only three of the top 10 women's seeds got to the round of 32 at this year's French Open, all of the top 12 men did. And all of the top eight men were in the fourth round.
WATCH l Medvedev falls in straight sets to Cilic:
Medvedev is the reigning U.S. Open champion but had been 0-4 at Roland Garros until getting to the quarter-finals a year ago. This time, the Russian won every set he played until running into Crotia's Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, who is now into his third quarter-final in 16 appearances in Paris.
Cilic's next opponent is seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia. They will play each other on Wednesday with a semifinal spot at stake.
Tsitsipas ousted by Rune
Danish teenager Holger Rune has eliminated 2021 French Open runner-up Tsitsipas to reach his first major quarter-final in his Roland Garros debut.
Tsitsipas was the first member of the top eight seeds to leave the men's bracket.
Rune never had won a Grand Slam match until last week, going 0-2 in previous appearances at the sport's top four events.
WATCH | Rune roars back to take 4th and final set:
But the hard-hitting 19-year-old now joins sixth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz to make this the first Slam tournament with two teenagers in the men's quarter-finals since Hendrik Dreekmann and Andrei Medvedev at the 1994 French Open.
Rune had a bit of trouble closing things out against Tsitsipas after going up 5-2 in the fourth set. Rune dropped nine points in a row and his lead narrowed to 5-4. Then he needed to save three break points before serving out the biggest victory of his career.
Rune will play No. 8 seed Casper Ruud of Norway for a semifinal berth.
Ruud makes Norwegian tennis history
Ruud has reached the first Grand Slam quarter-final of his career by beating Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at Roland Garros.
The eighth-seeded Ruud is the first man from Norway to get to the round of eight at the French Open.
The 12th-seeded Hurkacz was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year. He had lost in the first round of the French Open in three consecutive appearances.
Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal didn't get his preference on the timing of his blockbuster quarter-final match against top-ranked Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
Swiatek drops set, extends win streak
Iga Swiatek's 20-set winning streak ended. Doesn't matter, because her run of consecutive match victories is now up to 32.
The No. 1-ranked Swiatek shook off an uncharacteristically problematic stretch and came back to beat 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen of China 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Monday in the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, took leads of 3-0 and 5-2 in the first set but couldn't close it out, wasting five set points in all. In the tiebreaker, Swiatek claimed five consecutive points to lead 5-2, and the 74th-ranked Zheng responded by reeling off the next five points.
That was the first set ceded by Swiatek since April 23.
Zheng's movement was not as good at the start of the second set and she took a medical timeout to have her upper right leg taped while down 3-0. Swiatek grabbed eight straight games to own the second set and take a 2-0 lead in the third and would not let the lead slip away.
When it ended, she screamed "Come on!" and shook her right fist.
Swiatek has not lost a match since February, earning five consecutive titles. No woman has produced more wins in a row since Serena Williams had a 34-match streak end in 2013.
Swiatek's quarter-final opponent will be 11th-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States.
Nadal, Djokovic under the lights
The 13-time champion at Roland Garros wanted a day match Tuesday to avoid the slightly slower conditions on the clay courts at night. But organizers have made it the marquee night match on Day 10, scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m., after negotiating with rights-holding broadcasters to ensure all viewers in France can watch coverage of the match for free.
Nadal got through a five-set win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round on Sunday to set up a record 59th matchup against Djokovic.
WATCH | Nadal outlasts Auger-Aliassime in thriller:
He has an overall win-loss record of 109-3 at Roland Garros. Two of those three losses in Paris came against Djokovic, including in last year's semifinals.
Nadal won the Australian Open in January for a record 21st men's Grand Slam title, breaking a tie with Djokovic and Roger Federer. Djokovic missed the tournament after being deported from Australia because he wasn't vaccinated against COVID-19.
Pegula 3rd U.S. woman in quarters
Jessica Pegula has made it to the French Open quarter-finals for the first time by coming back to beat Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Pegula joins two other American women in the quarter-finals in Paris, with Coco Gauff and Sloane Stephens facing each other on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Pegula is seeded 11th at Roland Garros. Her two previous runs to the round of eight at Grand Slam tournaments came at the Australian Open -- this January and last year.
Pegula arrived in Paris with a 2-3 career record at the clay-court major, with one third-round appearance.
She needed 10 match points to close out her first-round victory and eight in the second round last week.
WATCH | Fernandez advances to French Open quarter-finals
Rublev reaches quarters when Sinner stops
Rublev is into the French Open quarter-finals for the second time in three years after his fourth-round opponent, 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner, stopped playing because of a problem with his left leg.
Rublev was leading 1-6, 6-4, 2-0 when Sinner retired, grimacing as he walked off the court.
Sinner's leg was treated by a trainer during his previous match and then again Monday.
Rublev has lost a set in every match he has played this year at Roland Garros on the way to his fifth career Grand Slam quarter-final. That will come against Cilic.
