French Open 2018 Highlights: Novak Djokovic went down in four sets to Marco Cecchanito. (Reuters Photo)
French Open 2018 Highlights: French Open 2018 enters the business end with the first day of the quarter-finals beginning on Tuesday. Two quarter-finals each in the men’s and women’s singles will be held in Paris. At the Philippe-Chatrier Court, Dominic Thiem will take on second seed Alexander Zverev in the first match. At the same court, 10th seed Sloane Stephens of USA will face 21-year-old 14th seed Daria Kasatkina. At the Suzanne-Lenglen Court, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan will face Madison Keys in the women’s singles. Former champion in Paris Novak Djokovic will take on Marco Cecchinato of Italy. The matches on Tuesday will begin at 4 pm IST. Catch French Open 2018 Live Tennis Score Roland Garros Live Streaming of the quarter-finals from Paris.
French Open 2018 Live Tennis Score Day 10 Live Streaming: Rafael Nadal reached the quarters. (AP Photo)
The semifinals from today's quarterfinals:
Sloane Stephens vs Madison Keys
Dominic Thiem vs Mario Cecchinato
And with that, Au revoir!
Cecchinato with a fourth match point opportunity. Djokovic approaches the net after the serve and the reply is just in. Cecchinato goes down in celebration and he has just beaten the 2016 champion, a 12-time Grand Slam winner 6-3, 7-6, 1-6, 6-7. Djokovic comes to the other side to embrace the Italian who has made history
Djokovic saves yet another match point with a forehand winner past Cecchinato. 20 minutes into the tiebreak and Cecchinato has another chance. Now after his forehand hits the top of the net
HOW!! Cecchinato with a short reply and Djokovic has a simple task of putting it away for a forehand winneer but a mishit sees the ball go into the crowd. Djokovic can't help but be shocked with that error! After change of ends, Cecchinato holds serve to bring up a second match point
Cecchinato with another set point saved. Djokovic did it all in the point, kept things alive, had the depth but it is Cecchinato who had the edge to close out the point with a forehand drive volley winner. Djokovic comes back with a forehand winner down the line and that's the third set point chance now
Cecchinato saves the set point as Djokovic sends his backhand long. But comes back with another fantastic backhand and has another chance to close out this set.
Djokovic with yet another insane volley. Cecchinato with a superb drop shot and equally remarkable get by Novak, picks it up and then moves to the backhand side for a volley winner. Brings up set point!
Djokovic with a superb volley from what looked like an unbelievable get by Cecchinato. The Italian did all the running, had superb tenacity to keep things alive but Djokovic with lovely effort at the net with a lovely drop shot. Crowd roars as the players change ends at 6-6.
Djokovic with plenty of depth on his groundstroke and with Cecchinato in the corner, Djokovic approaches the net for a simple volley winner. What a remarkable rally from both players - incredible depth by both, incredible movement, superb quality on offer. Cecchinato moves in for the forehand winner and brings up match point.
Cecchinato has Djokovic scrambling on the forehand side and the attempted lob sails long. That's the mini break back. Cecchinato doing well to prolong the point even when it looked like it was over. Double mini break on the serve.
Cecchinato misses one forehand and another to squander his advantage. First sends his groundstroke wide and then, after change of ends, into the net. Djokovic up a mini break now!
Bold decision by Novak Djokovic to let the ball go as he approached the net. Just wide in the end. Holds both serve but Cecchinato has that mini-break in hand
Cecchinato goes 3-0 up in the fourth set tiebreaker. Forehand winner into the open court and no answer from Djokovic. Can only stand and see the ball hit the back wall
Cecchinato with a mini-break on the first point itself. Djokovic sends his backhand into the tramlines and like the second set tiebreak, Cecchinato makes a strong start
Novak Djokovic nets his backhand and Cecchinato holds serve to take this set into a tiebreak. To think he trailed 2-5 and Djokovic had an easy chance to break serve at one stage!
Over on Court 1, Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin drop the opening set in a tiebreak against Mektic/Peya. 2-1 to the Croatia-Austria pairing in the second set with a break advantage
Novak Djokovic sends his backhand a touch wide and it gives Cecchinato a chance to break. Djokovic grazing the line with fantastic depth on his groundstroke. Pressure? What pressure? Cecchinato sends his backhand into the net and the crowd roars in appreciation of the effort. Deuce. Novak moving Cecchinato all around the court and eventually the sliced forehand stretch is too much. Novak's box is up! Another deep backhand return and Cecchinato sends it into the net. Enthralling stuff!
Novak Djokovic serving at 5-3 for the fourth set. Starts off with a angled serve out wide on the Cecchinato forehand and too much ground to cover, the reply is wide. Another ball with too much to do and Serbian goes 30-0 up. Cecchinato stays in the hunt with Djokovic making unforced errors. On to 30-30 now as Djokovic's forehand goes long. Short service reply and Djokovic sends the backhand long. Poor shot and it gives Cecchinato a break back point. Italian romps on to his forehand and thumps a winner into vacant court. Back on serve!
Order of Play for Wednesday sees Muruguza vs Sharapova, Nadal vs Schwartzman on Chatrier. On Suzanne-Lenglen, Halep faces Kerber which will be followed by Cilic against Del Potro
Djokovic has continued into the fourth set the way he was in the third. In pulsating form and moving beautifully around the court. Cecchinato's groundstrokes and the reliable backhand not bailing him out either. Break and Djokovic goes 2-0 up
Djokovic calls the trainer before the start of the fourth set. Gets a look at his knee but doesn't look like much. Cecchinato comes back after a toilet break and argues with the supervisor about something. Gets docked a point immediately.
Djokovic with a thumping forehand into the open court after a deep service return. Brings up three set points. One saved with an ace. Next one, an attempted drop shot is into the net. Djokovic takes the third set 6-1 in 27 minutes. GAME ON!
Novak Djokovic takes a two breaks of serve lead in the third set and goes up 4-1 in a flash. Superb backkahd return deep into the court brings up second break point for the Serb. Follows it up with another backhand winner down the line and its all Djokovic suddenly. Talk about momentum shift!
Meanwhile Serena Williams has an injury update prior to undergoing an MRI. "Today has been interesting already," Williams said in an Instagram video. "I have just finished one exam with one doctor and the news is actually super exciting so I'm really happy about that. I'm having an MRI soon. I wanted to keep you guys up to date. Thanks for the support, love and understanding. It's been incredibly frustrating, but also I'm excited, as I feel I've been playing really well. I can only go up and hopefully you guys will be there with me when I do."
Over on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Sloane Stephens has little trouble dispatching Daria Kasatkina. Wins 6-3, 6-1 and will face Madison Keys in the semis. Repeat of the 2017 US Open Final and the last time two Americans played in a French Open semifinal was in 2002, when Serena Williams played Jennifer Capriati.
Cecchinato takes an early mini break in the tiebreak and leads 3-1. But Djokovic turns things around with help from the Italian. Cecchinato sends his smash from the baseline into the net and slams the ball in frustration. No warning for him. Djokovic follows it up with a strange drop shot from the back and it is into the net. 4-4. Cecchinato is effective with his drop shots and it earns him a mini-break. Djokovic now sends his backhand wide and Cecchinato has two set points. Strong serve down the line and forehand down the centre winner. Exclames as he takes the chair! Cecchinato leads Djokovic 6-4, 7-6
Lovely point and smart rally from the baseline by both players. Djokovic's loopy return, on set point, is met with a cross court return followed by a short response that has Djokovic scrambling. But, Novak creates another set point opportunity as Cecchinato nets his shot. Saves it once again. Serves it out wide on the Djokovic backhand and the mishit helps the ball out. Another set point for Djokovic as Cecchinato misses his nifty and reliable backhand return down the line. Saved again! Cecchinato smartly keeping ball short with Djokovic deep into the court and the Serbian nets once again. Djokovic misses his backhand to hold serve. Nervous moments for the Italian and Djokovic is not pleased with his effort. TIEBREAK!
Lovely point and smart rally from the baseline by both players. Djokovic's loopy return, on set point, is met with a cross court return followed by a short response that has Djokovic scrambling. But, Novak creates another set point opportunity as Cecchinato nets his shot. Saves it once again. Serves it out wide on the Djokovic backhand and the mishit helps the ball out. Another set point for Djokovic as Cecchinato misses his nifty and reliable backhand return down the line. Saved again! Cecchinato smartly keeping ball short with Djokovic deep into the court and the Serbian nets once again. Djokovic misses his backhand to hold serve. Nervous moments for the Italian and Djokovic is not pleased with his effort. TIEBREAK!
Lovely point and smart rally from the baseline by both players. Djokovic's loopy return, on set point, is met with a cross court return followed by a short response that has Djokovic scrambling. But, Novak creates another set point opportunity as Cecchinato nets his shot. Saves it once again. Serves it out wide on the Djokovic backhand and the mishit helps the ball out. Another set point for Djokovic as Cecchinato misses his nifty and reliable backhand return down the line. Saved again! Cecchinato smartly keeping ball short with Djokovic deep into the court and the Serbian nets once again. Djokovic misses his backhand to hold serve. Nervous moments for the Italian and Djokovic is not pleased with his effort. TIEBREAK!
Sloane Stephens looks on course to joining Madison Keys in the semifinals. She leads Dinara Kasatkina 6-3, 2-1 and up a break in the second
Novak Djokovic serving at 3-3, 0-15 and after trading backhand returns cross the court, the Italian finds the vacant court down the line and uses it with a gorgeous backhand winner down the line. Gets his right leg in front and makes the most of the room. Another backhand piledriver down the line, Djokovic scrambles to get it back but Cecchinato is calm to return it for a drop as Djokovic stands miles behind the baseline. The Serb saves two break points and keeps the second set on serve (4-3)
Cecchanito takes the lead early on in the second set to break Novak's serve in the first game itself. And then consolidates that advantage. But Djokovic is climbing back and getting into it strongly. Three straight games for the Serbian
Marco Cecchanito takes the opening set 6-3. Had the one break of serve in hand and held it through till the end. Upset alert?
Marco Cecchanito takes the opening set 6-3. Had the one break of serve in hand and held it through till the end. Upset alert?
We move our focus to Novak Djokovic against Marco Cecchinato where the Italian has taken a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Dominic Thiem speaking after the match: "It was very tough for him today. He is one of the fittest guys on tour but even for him it’s tough to play three five setters in a row. For sure we will have many more encounters at this late stage of a Grand Slam, or even later."
"I love it so much here. It’s a third time in the semi-finals, it sounds amazing. When I was younger I never expected this, but reaching it for the third time it’s time for more, and I will try everything to take one more step this year."
Dominic Thiem is into the French Open semifinals for a third straight year. Comfortable win over Alexander Zverev in the end. Super forehand cross court opens up the court and a backhand winner gets the job done. In an hour and 52 minutes, Thiem wins 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
After winning just four points and trailing 0-4 in the third set, the German strings together some points to go up on the board. Earns a break point in the next Thiem serve but the Austrian stays strong to hold. 5-1 now
Madison Keys is through to her first Roland Garros semifinal. Ace down the Putintseva backhand side for a 7-6, 6-4 win. Coach Lindsay Davenport is all smiles in the stands.
Madison Keys is through to her first Roland Garros semifinal. Ace down the Putintseva backhand side for a 7-6, 6-4 win. Coach Lindsay Davenport is all smiles in the stands.