We have reached the quarter-finals. Everyone is, potentially, three matches away from the trophy. Who is brave enough? Who is smart enough? Who wants it more?
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTAt this stage of the tournament the big matches come thick and fast. The pressure is mounting and matches are won and lost not so much on forehands and backhands but on mental strength and heart.
No one could ever doubt the ambition of Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur and no one would be daft enough to question their tactical ability. But which of them will be ready to take their place in the semi-final? Neither woman knows.
“What you want to do is improve through each match,” Gauff said. “Sometimes how you start is not necessarily how you finish a tournament. For me, last week Rome was one of those where I went in not feeling great at all, and then I left feeling good about my game. [She reached the semi-finals] This week I feel like I've been managing and playing well.”
As the current US Open champion, Gauff knows what it takes to win a Grand Slam title, and as the runner up here in 2022, she knows what sort of scars are left having come so close.
Jabeur only knows the heartbreak of defeat in three Grand Slam finals – twice at Wimbledon and once in New York. Trying to put those bad memories to the back of her mind is not easy and coupled with a nagging knee injury, the Tunisian has been struggling for confidence for much of this year. She has been playing brilliantly in practice but on the match court it is a different story. Or it was until she got to Paris.
©Philippe Montigny / FFT“I was winning almost all the practice sets against other players,” Jabeur said, “but then during the matches it was more difficult for me. So I had to be more patient, and gaining confidence is something that takes time because you will gain confidence when you gain more matches. Here in Roland-Garros I'm going [on an upward path]. That's really good. I believe in it and I'm more patient.”
She has only dropped one set so far and she knows that her unique game can, on its day, beat anyone. It is just that she does not know if Tuesday will be one of those days.
“It's going to be definitely a difficult match,” she said. “She's such a fighter on the court. I hope I can play good and I can play my game because I know I can bother her as well.”
She has bothered Gauff twice in six meetings but when they played at the WTA Finals at the end of last year, Gauff allowed her to take just one game. Today’s result will come down to heart and head. Who will win the brain game?
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTCourt Philippe-Chatrier, second match: Iga Swiatek vs Marketa Vondrousova
The good news for Swiatek is that she is feeling as fresh as a daisy. The bad news for Vondrousova is that Swiatek is feeling as fresh as a daisy. The world No.1 needed only 40 minutes to beat Anastasia Potapova on Sunday and, as a result, she has plenty left in the tank for the coming rounds.
She comes into today’s match with a 3-0 lead in their career head-to-head; she has never dropped a set to the Czech. Just to make Vondrousova’s job all the harder, Swiatek seems to have hit peak form: she lost only 10 points in her previous round and committed only two unforced errors. When asked how it felt to be in the zone like that, the defending champion simply said: “Comfortable.” Most players can only dream of feeling that comfortable.
Court Philippe-Chatrier, third match: Jannik Sinner vs Grigor Dimitrov
All good things come to those who wait – and Dimitrov has been waiting for 14 years for this quarter-final. He has made deep runs at the other Grand Slams (a semi-final run at all three and another couple more quarter-final finishes in Australia) but never here.
When he beat Hubert Hurkacz to reach Tuesday's match, the delight was plain to see. He was bloodied after diving on the clay and he was tired but he had done it. “I was just telling myself I'm going to get to every single ball that is there,” he said. And he did. Now he takes on the world No.2, a man he has lost to three times in succession. But he does not care. The attitude that has got him this far could take him further: “I've been approaching every match the same way. Let’s play it out!”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
