French Open up for grabs for women; Murray, top men in QF

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 runnerup 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 fourthround 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’s 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 Tuesday.

“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.