Foot blisters add to Medvedev's clay court woes

Daniil Medvedev has many reasons for not liking clay. From feeling like a “dog” in the dirt to “hating life” at the start of the clay season, he’s had no qualms expressing his dislike for the surface over the years. Before the start of this year’s French Open, though, he admitted he’s getting better at dealing with these troubles in the red dirt.

The 28-year-old Russian was largely unperturbed through the first week and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for just the third time in his career. Even against Alex de Minaur, he bagged the opening set fairly comfortably and looked good for a second quarter-final appearance in Paris. It was all going well for the fifth seed. Until it suddenly wasn’t.

Halfway through the second set on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Medvedev asked for a medical timeout and revealed large blisters on his right foot. It was an issue he had also faced during the Australian Open final earlier this year. Only this time, the bruise was much bigger and the pain more severe. He carried on playing but only managed to win a few more games as de Minaur completed a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory to book a spot in the French Open quarterfinals for the first time.

This isn’t to say that de Minaur didn’t play well. The 25-year-old was clinical once the opportunity presented itself. He remained focussed on his game and was clever in making his opponent run hard consistently. But Medvedev’s movement, which is one of his biggest strengths, was definitely compromised and it had a significant impact on the contest. Having hit an average of 27 winners across the first three rounds, de Minaur hit 51 against Medvedev.

For the 25-year-old Australian, it was a big result on a surface where he’s never won a title. “I was never expecting to be in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros,” he said on court. “I never played too well here over the years. It’s always a very tactical game against Daniil since we both retrieve a lot of balls.”

Rybakina, Sabalenka cruise

Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka continued their dominant run to reach the women's singles quarter-finals. Arguably the two biggest threats to defending champion Iga Swiatek, neither has lost a set so far in the tournament.

Rybakina, seeded fourth, had the toughest matchup in the women’s singles round of 16 as she faced 15th seed Elina Svitolina. A former world No.3 and four-time French Open quarter-finalist, Svitolina was expected to put up a tough fight but it ended up being a one-sided contest. Rybakina remained powerful on serve and won 6-4, 6-3 to set up a clash with 12th seed Jasmine Paolini.

Sabalenka was similarly ruthless and claimed a 6-2, 6-3 victory against 22nd seed Emma Navarro. The second seed, who had defended her Australian Open crown earlier this year, didn’t face a break point throughout the match and blasted 36 winners.

"It sounds crazy to me, to be honest, and I'm super happy that I was able to bring this consistency on the Grand Slams," said Sabalenka. "That's really amazing. I just, yeah, it's motivating me a lot to keep pushing myself a lot and to see where is the limit."

Russia’s Mirra Andreeva also continued her dream run by reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in her young career. The 17-year-old defeated Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 6-2 and will face Sabalenka next. Having made her WTA main draw debut as a 15-year-old, Andreeva made the fourth round at the Australian Open in January and at Wimbledon last year.

Bopanna-Ebden advance

In a third round men’s doubles match featuring Indians on opposite sides, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden edged out N Sriram Balaji and Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela 6-7, 6-3, 7-6(8) to reach the quarter-finals.

With Bopanna yet to select his doubles partner for the Paris Olympics, it was a particularly interesting match as Balaji and his Mexican partner did well to clinch the opening set. But the second seeds, who won the Australian Open this year, turned things around and held their nerves in the end to clinch a tense match tie-breaker.

Bopanna and Ebden will face the German pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen next.