French Open order of play, Day 10 – Swiatek continues title defence, Alcaraz in action

We’re officially into the business end of the 2024 French Open, as it’s quarter-final time in southern Paris.

Irrepressible world No. 1 Iga Swiatek is in action, taking on Marketa Vondrousova. The winner of that one will meet either Coco Gauff or Ons Jabeur in the semi-finals, with the American yet to drop a set in the tournament as she eyes Grand Slam glory for the second time in her career.

On the men’s side of the draw, Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the late match. The victor’s opponent in the final four will be Jannik Sinner – the No. 2 seed and looking for his second Slam of the year – or Grigor Dimitrov.

Elsewhere on the show courts, Gauff is also scheduled for doubles action as she teams up with former world No. 1 in the discipline, Katerina Siniakova. Both the men’s and women’s doubles reach their third round on Tuesday.

Tsitsipas is looking for a first career victory against Alcaraz in the match-up of the day, with the Greek having lost all five previous encounters.

The 25-year-old entered the French Open in strong form, having won the Monte-Carlo Masters and reached the final of the Barcelona Open in April. But he’s made slightly heavy work in the French capital so far, twice being taken to four sets and three times going to tiebreaks.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, has dropped one set and needed one tie-break en route to this stage of the tournament, with his last outing seeing him cruise into this stage with a straight-sets win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Looking for his third major win at just 21, Alcaraz is the favourite to make the semi-finals, but Tsitsipas believes the challenge will “ignite an internal flame” for him.

Swiatek is on a total rampage at Roland-Garros, winning each of her last 18 matches – the last of which saw her not drop a single game, against Anastasia Potapova. Earlier in the tournament, she got past the returning Naomi Osaka.

The Polish star, who has topped the world rankings for over two years straight, has lifted the trophy in each of the last two years. In 2021 she made the quarter-finals in a relatively poor showing by her standards, as she also tasted French Open glory the year prior.

Vondrousova will provide her biggest test of the tournament so far, ranking at No. 6 in the world and being the fifth seed in Paris. She has once made the final before, back in 2019. The Czech also won Wimbledon last year.

The 24-year-old is yet to reach a final on the WTA Tour this year, though, and has not fared well against Swiatek in the past, losing three of three.

• Coco Gauff (3) v Ons Jabeur (8)

• Iga Swiatek (1) v Marketa Vondrousova (5)
• Grigor Dimitrov (10) v Jannik Sinner (2)

• Stefanos Tsitsipas (9) v Carlos Alcaraz (3)

• Diana Shnaider and Emma Navarro v Monaco Niculescu and Cristina Bucsa
• Thomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen v Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez
• Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova v Wang Xinyu and Ena Shibahara
• Ena Shibahara and Nathaniel Lammons v Laura Siegemund and Edouard Roger-Vasselin

• Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini v Amina Anshba and Anastasia Detiuc
• Miyu Kato and Nadiia Kichenok v Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez
• Erin Routliffe and Leylah Fernandez v Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse
• Miyu Kato and Tim Putz v Ulrikke Eikeri and Maximo Gonzalez