Women look to make impact at French Open
PARIS — For all of the tumult in the French Open women’s draw and the unfamiliar names filling the quarterfinal slots, the men’s tournament has been much more about the usual suspects: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and, of course, Rafael Nadal.
The No. 1-seeded Murray, a three-time major champion and last year’s runner-up at Roland Garros, and No. 3 Wawrinka, whose own trio of Grand Slam trophies includes the 2015 French Open, moved into the quarters with ho-hum, straightset victories Monday.
While three of the winners in women’s fourth-round action Monday — No. 2 Karolina Pliskova, No. 3 Simona Halep and No. 5 Elina Svitolina — are highly seeded, none of the eight players left in that field has ever won a Grand Slam tournament. And they’re all well aware. “Everyone knows who remains in the draw,” said Svitolina, who was two points from losing before coming back to beat 290th-ranked Petra Martic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. “It’s a big opportunity.”
There’s a lot more experience and hardware among the remaining men.
There are Murray and Wawrinka on the top half of the bracket. On the bottom half, No. 2 Djokovic, the defending champion, and No. 4 Nadal, seeking a record-extending 10th title in Paris, would set up a showdown in the semifinals with one victory apiece today.
“Looks like one of the top four guys” is going to end up grasping the champion’s Coupe des Mousquetaires, seven-time major titlist John McEnroe observed.
He added that he thinks “quite probably” the semifinals will be No. 1 vs. No. 3, and No. 2 vs. No. 4.
Svitolina dealt with sudden pain in her back about a halfhour before her match and said she panicked. Then it affected her play. But after trailing 5-2 in the third set, and love-30 while serving, she switched to what she jokingly called Svitolina Mode and barely a missed a shot the rest of the way.
She won 20 of the last 24 points.
Svitolina plays 2014 runner-up Halep, who defeated No. 21 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-1. In another quarterfinal, Pliskova meets No. 28 Caroline Garcia, a 6-2, 6-4 winner against Alize Cornet in a match between two Frenchwomen.
So what, exactly, is Svitolina Mode?
“I just try to find myself into this zone where I don’t do much unforced errors,” the Ukrainian said, “and still play aggressive.”