Djokovic hits French Open ton

PARIS — Novak Djokovic sailed into a record 19th French Open quarterfinal on Monday, while world No 1 Jannik Sinner dismantled Andrey Rublev in straight sets.

World No 361 Lois Boisson knocked out women's third seed Jessica Pegula to become the first home quarterfinalist at Roland Garros since 2017.

The 38-year-old Djokovic dusted aside Britain's Cameron Norrie in three sets, his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier bringing up the Serbian's 100th match win at the French Open.

His tally of 19 quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament, surpassing Roger Federer's 18 Wimbledon quarterfinals.

But Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion, is focused on much bigger goals as he chases a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week.

"I feel good. I know I can play better. But 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it's been solid so far," said Djokovic, who will likely face a much more difficult test against world No 3 Alexander Zverev.

"It's great, but victory No 101 would be better. I'm very honored...But I need to continue now."

Djokovic has not played anyone ranked higher than 73rd through the first four rounds. Zverev is last year's runner-up and advanced when Djokovic retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semifinals in January.

"It's not finished for me here the tournament and I feel very good and good to make history here. I hope there will be another win here in two days."

Zverev moved into his seventh Roland Garros quarterfinal when Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor quit with an abdominal problem while trailing 6-4, 3-0.

The German is still hunting a first Grand Slam title. He lost the 2024 final to Carlos Alcaraz and then finished runner-up to Sinner in Melbourne.

"Novak Djokovic will never be a (dark) horse. For me, Carlos is the favorite," said Zverev. "Then I would say the next three in line are Jannik, myself, and Novak, right? I still believe that."

World No 1 Sinner fired a warning shot to his title rivals with a ruthless 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian 17th seed Rublev in the night session.

Sinner, who returned from a three-month doping ban last month at the Italian Open, will face the unseeded Alexander Bublik for a place in the last four.

Italy's Sinner is targeting a third consecutive Grand Slam title after lifting the US Open trophy last year and winning his second successive Australian Open in January.

"Today was a very good performance but we try to keep going and see how it goes," said the three-time major champion.

Bublik took down his second top-10 rival in Paris as the rejuvenated Kazakh came from a set behind to defeat British fifth seed Jack Draper 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Bublik, ranked 62nd, is into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Boisson sent shockwaves through Roland Garros as she kept the French flag flying with an improbable 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over 2024 US Open runner-up Pegula, to join Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva in the last eight.

Boisson, 22, came from a set down against last year's US Open runner-up to prolong her dream run on her Grand Slam debut.

She is the first French singles quarterfinalist in Paris since Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic made it to the same stage eight years ago. Mary Pierce was the tournament's last French champion in 2000.

Boisson goes on to face 18-year-old Russian rising star Andreeva on Wednesday for a place in the semifinals.

Sixth seed Andreeva moved through in straight sets as she cut short an attempted fightback by Daria Kasatkina to advance 6-3, 7-5.

Andreeva is through to her second major quarterfinal, having reached the last four at Roland Garros 12 months ago when she knocked out Aryna Sabalenka.

World No 2 Gauff brushed Russian 20th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova aside 6-0, 7-5 to step up her pursuit of a first Roland Garros crown, and second Grand Slam title.

Former US Open champion Gauff will play reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in an all-American quarterfinal.

A new chapter

A new chapter at the Grand Slams as an Australian player has left Kasatkina feeling the love like never before after the Russianborn world No 17 took the bold decision to switch nationalities earlier this year.

After a spell as a neutral athlete, Kasatkina's application for permanent residency was accepted by Australia this year.

The 28-year-old has found plenty of new fans at events, and said following Monday's 6-3 7-5 French Open loss to Andreeva that it was a new experience.

"Honestly, it's been a good result, first of all, but also I felt super good, to step on the court as an Australian player," Kasatkina told reporters.

"To feel the support from the stands ... I heard many times that Aussies were — I don't know if everyone who was screaming, 'Aussie' was from Australia but I felt this support."

"On social media, I'm getting a lot of support from the Australians. They're so happy to welcome me and are happy for me, so this is kind of support which I honestly didn't have before," Kasatkina added.

Defeat by the 18-year-old Russian Andreeva ended Kasatkina's bid to become the first Australian woman to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros since Ashleigh Barty's title-winning campaign in 2019 but she said she was satisfied with her run.

"It was a very tough match. I had quite a few chances in the second set, also in the first set," she said.

"When you play a top player like Mirra, everything comes into details. There's nothing particular that I can tell you but ... those few important points, we were battling hard.

"That happens. It's a game but, overall, I'm pretty happy about how I spent this week here at Roland Garros."

AFP