How surprising has the women’s French Open been? Let’s just say that with five days still remaining, we were two games away from seeing Ana Ivanovic as the title favorite. That would have been the case if Sloane Stephens had defeated Serena Williams during fourth-round action on Monday.
Even with Serena storming back for a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory, the women’s draw has been turned upside down. Simona Halep had already lost much earlier in the tournament and two other top-four seeds have now joined her on the sidelines. Defending champion Maria Sharapova was taken down 7-6(3), 6-4 by Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova got upset by Timea Bacsinszky 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
That’s right; Timea Baczinsky is in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros. So, too, are Alison Van Uytvanck, Sara Errani, Elina Svitolina, and Garbine Mugurza. Errani and Muguruza are well-recognized names, but neither one was expect to reach even the fourth round based on seeding.
The story has been a markedly different one on the men’s side.
In the top quarter of the draw, everyone from the get-go expected a Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal showdown in the last eight. Check (that will take place on Wednesday). The next section was tipped to feature an Andy Murray vs. David Ferrer quarterfinal. Check. Then you were supposed to have Kei Nishikori vs. either Tomas Berdych or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Tuesday. Check (it will Tsonga, a relative surprise at Berdych’s expense but not exactly a stunner). Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka were favored to face off at the bottom of the bracket. Check.
And the favorites advanced without too much fuss, as well. Djokovic has not dropped a single set or even been pushed to a tiebreaker. Nadal cruised in similar fashion before finally surrendering a set to Jack Sock on Monday. No matter; the nine-time champion still got the job done 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.
Murray has improved to a perfect 14-0 on clay this season thanks to a quartet of routine wins in Paris. The Scot lost sets to Joao Sousa and Jeremy Chardy, but his nine victorious sets have come by scorelines no closer than 6-4. Ferrer needed to survive one-setter, which he did by promptly trouncing Simone Bolelli 6-0, 6-1 in the fourth and fifth. The world No. 8 then destroyed Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Even Wawrinka, who had been a borderline disaster since the Australian Open, had no trouble setting up yet another all-Swiss encounter. He saw Dusan Lajovic steal one set, but other than that no opponent has come closer than 6-4 against the 2014 Australian Open champion. Federer briefly found himself at 1-1 in sets with Gael Monfils, but the 17-time major winner has otherwise made a mockery of his outstanding draw.
“It [will be] a special match,” Federer said of his Tuesday date with Wawrinka. “It is not a traditional match. There aren’t too many Swiss players in the draw. It’s always special to play each other. There will be a Swiss guy in the semifinal. That’s positive. I will pull out all the stops to advance to the next round. If I [do] not make it, I will be very happy for Stan.”
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