Kalinskaya Survives Thriller, Cobolli Advances as Fonseca Stuns Ruud in French Open Shake-Up

PARIS: Anna Kalinskaya reached her maiden French Open quarterfinal with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-7) win over 28th seed Anastasia Potapova on Monday, marking only the second time the Russian has entered that stage of a Grand Slam.

Kalinskaya, who also made the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2024, will attempt to better that result at Roland Garros when she plays Pole Maja Chwalinska who beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-3 6-2.

The women's field at the French Open is wide open with world number one Aryna Sabalenka the top contender following early exits for defending champion Coco Gauff and four-times Paris winner Iga Swiatek.

Potapova, who knocked out defending champion Gauff in the third round, started strongly and racked up a 4-1 lead in double quick time, before she lost her grip on a wildly swinging first set.

Having taken the opener, Kalinskaya endured moments of frustration in the second as Potapova built a 3-1 lead, and the 22nd seed was unable to prevent the match from going to a decider on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Nervy games by Potapova handed Kalinskaya a 4-1 lead in the third set, but the Russian-born Austrian fought back and served for the match at 5-4, only to be broken again.

After further momentum shifts, the tense third set went into a match tiebreak, and Kalinskaya held her nerve to prevail after two hours and 49 minutes.

In another fourth round match, Diana Shnaider beat Madison Keys 6-3 3-6 6-0.

In men’s section, tenth-seed Flavio Cobolli dropped his first set of the tournament but beat unseeded American Zachary Svajda en route to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5) to book his spot in the last eight.

The 24-year-old Italian has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the second time after last year's run to the last eight at Wimbledon.

He was the only player left in the draw in Paris not to have dropped a set going into the fourth round.

Cobolli, far more experienced on clay than his opponent ranked 85th in the world, made sure of a solid start and an early break to take control of the first set. A second break landed him the set.

Svajda, making his French Open main draw debut, had only won one match on clay this season going into the tournament, and it showed with the Italian moving far better and the American struggling with a weak second serve.

The 23-year-old Svajda varied his game in the third set, becoming more aggressive and rushing to the net. He did not manage to break Cobolli but snatched the tiebreak to cut his lead.

Cobolli looked to have all but finished the job when he broke twice to race to a 4-0 lead, but Svajda reined him in, whipping big forehand winners to force another tiebreak, with the Italian having wasted one match point when he was 5-4 up.

Moreover, Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca clinched a dramatic four-set triumph against Casper Ruud in the last 16, backing up his win over Novak Djokovic in style.

The 19-year-old powered his way to a 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-2 win in the night match at Roland Garros to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal, where he will face Czech youngster Jakub Mensik. Agencies

Also Read: Balaji-Demoliner stun sixth seeds to reach French Open men’s doubles quarterfinals