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The fourth round of the 2025 French Open is halfway done, with two American stars into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in Paris.
Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Ben Shelton in four sets, but Frances Tiafoe (15) has joined fellow American Tommy Paul (12) in the quarters.
Lorenzo Musetti (8) booked the final spot in the quarters after beating Holger Rune (10) on Philippe-Chatrier in the night session.
It's Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Zheng Qinwen (8) and Iga Świątek (5) vs. Elina Svitolina (13) in the women's singles last eight after their wins today.
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Four quarterfinals are in the books, but four more need to be set. Tomorrow's matches are here for your delectation:
11 a.m. CET / 10 a.m. BST / 5 a.m. EDT
Ekaterina Alexandrova (20) vs. Coco Gauff (2) | Court Philippe-Chatrier
Mirra Andreeva (6) vs. Daria Kasatkina (17) | Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Followed by…
Lois Boisson (WC) vs. Jessica Pegula (3) | Court Philippe-Chatrier
Alexander Zverev (3) vs. Tallon Griekspoor | Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Followed by…
Cameron Norrie vs. Novak Djokovic (6) | Court Philippe-Chatrier
Madison Keys (7) vs. Hailey Baptiste | Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Alexander Bublk vs. Jack Draper (5) | Court Suzanne-Lenglen
And finally…
8:15 p.m. CET / 7:15 p.m. BST / 2:15 p.m. EDT
Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Andrey Rublev (17) | Court Philippe-Chatrier
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After a thrilling day of action at Roland Garros — particularly some stunning matches on Court Philippe-Chatrier — the top half of the women's draw and the bottom half of the men's draw have their quarterfinalists.
Women's
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Zheng Qinwen (8)
Elina Svitolina (13) vs. Iga Świątek (5)
Men's
Lorenzo Musetti (8) vs. Frances Tiafoe (15)
Tommy Paul (12) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Those matches will be played Wednesday June 4.
Musetti, who is in his first quarterfinal at the French Open, said he improved his attitude between this match and his previous one against Mariano Navone of Argentina.
“I started when I was four, the first time my dad, for my fourth birthday, he bought me a mini racket. I started to play one-handed backhand from a really young age.
“I started to take lessons and I was really natural, and I never changed. I'm really happy to be keeping the one-hander.
Musetti then addressed the Italians that stayed to watch him, telling them that he will seem them again at the next one. That's against the American No. 15 seed, Frances Tiafoe, who beat Daniel Altmaier of Germany earlier today.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Rune
Holger Rune made the fans who left early look foolish by surging through his service game — for a little bit.
Musetti's variety of speeds and spins takes over as the Italian serves for the match, with Rune reduced to hammering the ball in an increasingly desperate bid to untangle himself from a web he was weaving alongside the Italian in the early part of this match.
An unreturnable serve is enough to end things, and Musetti is into the quarterfinals to face Frances Tiafoe of the U.S.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 5-1* Rune
What was a raucous crowd to start this fourth set has descended into a low murmur, because the match feels effectively over as a contest. Tennis doesn't really work that way, I know, but Musetti is mixing up the speed, spin and height of his ball in ways that Rune just can't meet. When the Dane gets a chance on the front foot, he's over-pressing and missing forehands wide.
Musetti eases to 30-0 with another sequence of shots that make it look like the ball is attached to his racket, but Rune punches away a winner to stay what the crowd has deemed is inevitable. Musetti even ramps up the pace as a surprise tactic on his second serve, slamming it down the T to throw Rune off balance and get to 40-15.
A line judge's call of "fault" that sounds more like someone falling down a ravine draws some laughter, before Rune draws an error out of Musetti's forehand and reels him to 40-30. As Musetti slams down a first serve to move up 5-1, the stadium empties further.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, *4-1 Rune
At deuce, Rune slaps a frustated forehand halfway up the net off a pretty good serve wide to the Italian's forehand. He didn't really need to go to that shot, but frustration makes tennis players do odd things.
Musetti again refuses to run around his forehand, but Rune can't be so disciplined. He goes for the inside-out blast and misses wide. Musetti is two games from the quarterfinals, and that miss prompted a bit of an exodus from Philippe-Chatrier. The congregation doesn't believe in Holger Rune's hopes any longer.
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Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 3-1* Rune
At times this set, it's felt as if Lorenzo Musetti hasn't hit a single forehand apart from the one he cracked into the corner to break in the first game. His backhand is so assured that he's stopped running around his forehand — just like Rune has done. It's an interesting development, given that the first two sets were a game of who could get to their forehand on their backhand side first.
Musetti laces another winner to bring up deuce on Rune's serve. A break here would appear terminal for Rune's hopes. “Forza” rings around the stadium as Rune's first serve clips the net and lands in. He gets another crack. A glass breaks in the hospitality boxes, ringing around the stadium.
Rune picks off a short lob from Musetti to move to Ad-40. The claps rise around the stadium, whose fans would quite like a fifth set. A wide serve and Musetti hoists one lob, two lobs into the sky… Overhead into the net! Back to deuce.
Stefano Vukov, the suspended coach of 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, has appealed his one-year suspension from coaching and obtaining credentials for women’s tennis events.
Two people briefed on the appeal and the arbitration process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships in tennis, said Vukov is seeking to overturn his ban from the WTA Tour.
Vukov, who was suspended by the WTA Tour for breaching its code of conduct, is now in private arbitration with the governing body of women’s tennis, per the sources.
Read more from Matt Futterman of The Athletic at the link.
GO FURTHER
Elena Rybakina’s barred coach, Stefano Vukov, appeals 1-year WTA tennis ban
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, *2-1 Rune
During last night's play, the air over Court Philippe-Chatrier carried the aroma of a children's party, with explosions overhead and chants from about 750 meters away. They came, of course, from the Parc des Princes, where over 40,000 Paris St. Germain fans were celebrating their team's 5-0 Champions League final win over Inter of Italy.
This evening, the players — who won that match in Munich — are at the Parc des Princes for a show and a trophy lift. The fireworks are back, but on this court, Italy is in the ascendancy and France is nowhere to be seen.
Rune, who looked lost for the first two games of this set, gets a pretty routine hold.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, *1-0 Rune
I mentioned that Musetti one-hander earlier and he's using it in all its guises now.
A passing shot flashed down the line takes him to 15-40 on Rune's serve in the opening game of the fourth. In the second-to-next rally, Musetti hits his full quotient of variations as Rune, who was running round his forehand at every opportunity early in the match, now camps resolutely on the backhand.
A loopy topspinner, a slice, a flatter strike, another slice … Musetti has the ball on a string right now. And then Rune tries to open the court and BANG: Musetti ramps up the space with a crosscourt forehand whip to break.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 Rune
He's played his best set of tennis of the match and Lorenzo Musetti is chuntering away to himself like he's down a break and staring defeat in the face.
As he grabs the second set, the Italian turns to his coaching box and aims a volley of celebration laced with fury in their direction. Rune promptly leaves the court as the Philippe-Chatrier crowd rises to acknowledge Musetti's efforts in that set — he had asked for more noise after a couple of crucial points.
Musetti is one set away from the quarterfinals.
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As this set rolls toward its climax, a look at what the statistics are showing — and if there's anything to be divined from them, which isn't always a guarantee in tennis.
With the game score at 5-2 in the third set, Musetti is leading Rune by 95 points won to 89. That's a deficit of six. Musetti has a four-point advantage when it comes to points he has won against Rune's first serve, but Rune leads Musetti by the same margin on return points won against second serves.
They are winning the shortest points at about the same rate, but Rune is prevailing in exchanges of 5-8 shots and Musetti on 9+ shots. That suggests that if Musetti can extend points more often, he will have the upper hand.
Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 3-0* Rune
Holger Rune just slammed a backhand down the line into the postage stamp, but all it got him was two more chances to stop himself from getting broken early in the third set.
The next ball goes in the net, and the Italian has the lead in the middlegame of what has been a tennis chess match for most of the evening. The crowd know they are watching a complicated, strategic battle, applauding the orchestration of the points as much as the highlight reel shots. Rune might be looking for some of the latter category now though. Musetti is rolling again, and even a gorgeous drop volley from the Dane can't stop his train.
All it got? Two chances to stop Musetti from taking a 3-0 lead… But Rune isn't in the mood to play big shots for small prizes. He pushes Musetti back to get to 40-30, and then the Italian skids a backhand slice wide for 40-40. What looked like a smooth ride to 3-0 gets a little sticky, but Musetti digs in and moves three games away from a two-sets-to-one lead.
Musetti 7-5 3-6 Rune
The Italian cohort of tennis journalists is providing a good bellwether for Musetti's game. A poorly chosen cross-court drop shot reply draws some derision, as does a forehand miss that takes Rune to 30-0 and two points from parity.
But the Dane, not for the first time, duffs an overhead under the lights to gift Musetti a way back into the game. The Italians love that.
Musetti gets on top of the point down 30-15, but Rune hits a Carlos Alcaraz-esque slice pass that forces Musetti to hit up on the ball and he prods it long.
Rune, with two chances to even things up, cracks two forehands and a backhand to earn another overhead kill. He doesn't miss this time.
1-1 in a fascinating duel on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Musetti 7-5, 3-5* Rune
In a tennis match as tight as this one, small adjustments can lead to big differences. Holger Rune has gone from blasting off on opportunities to dictate a point to showcasing some Musetti-like patience, arcing his forehands into the air instead of trying to scud them flat and straight.
It's caught Musetti off-guard, and the Italian is now having to fight just to hold serve and make Rune serve out the second set.
After a couple of deuces, Musetti gets an advantage, but Rune punishes a short forehand with a howitzer inside-out to shock him back to another deuce.
Musetti gets another game point, and this time converts. Rune will have to do it behind his own delivery.
Musetti 7-5, 2-2* Rune
Musetti can thrash a forehand or ping a backhand with the best of them — his raw power is formidable. But when he's on the attack, he tends to shape and work the ball even when taking big cuts.
Rune favors a flatter, harder strike, which is devastating when it comes off but also gives a bit more opportunity for his opponents to redirect pace, as compared to Musetti's heavier ball. He tries to blow down the Italian's doors, but Musetti just finesses the ball back and a second strike from Rune hits the net.
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Musetti 7-5, *1-2 Rune
The game ended with Rune holding serve, but a point from Musetti showcases all of his backhand talents. From a seemingly lost position, a floated slice hovers onto the baseline, buying him the time to recover and taking away Rune's momentum.
A looping, dipping backhand drive crosscourt pulls Rune into the tramlines, and off the next ball, Musetti caresses a drop shot into the open court.
It didn't win the game, but it's a demonstration of Musetti's remarkable talent.
Musetti 7-5 Rune
The wheels are coming off for Rune here. He goes down 30-0 on Musetti's serve with a frustrated forehand into the net, no longer patiently looking for the right ball to tee off.
Musetti double-faults for 30-15, but a wrongfooting, curved forehand short in the court catches Rune out and an overhead brings Musetti two set points.
He moves to the net and caresses an inside-out forehand into the backhand corner, a fitting end for a set that was built on that play for both men.
Musetti *6-5 Rune
Gorgeous touch from Holger Rune at the neck, skimming a backhand half-volley over the net. But Musetti slams a forehand crosscourt out of his reach to get back to 30-30. The crowd can feel the tension, rising to the players' efforts in a match so tight that the first set could prove more decisive than it normally does in best-of-five tennis.
Rune then overcooks his shot at changing the direction of play, sending a backhand long down the line. Musetti can earn the chance to serve for the set here … And he doesn't even need to! Rune double faults to gift-wrap the opportunity for the Italian.
