French Open 2021: Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek Upsets Highlight Wednesday's Results
Big names continue to fall at the 2021 French Open as the top competitors battle for spots in the semifinals Wednesday.
Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek were eliminated in the quarterfinal after each looked invincible in earlier rounds. It leaves only two seeded players in the women's semifinals, and neither of them is ranked in the top 10.
In the men's draw, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic survived tough competition on Day 11 at Roland Garros.
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Results/Schedule
Barbora Krejcikova def. No. 24 Coco Gauff; 7-6(6), 6-3
No. 17 Maria Sakkari def. No. 8 Iga Swiatek; 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 Rafael Nadal def. No. 10 Diego Schwartzman; 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. No. 9 Matteo Berrettini; 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5
The women's draw was wide open after both No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and No. 2 Naomi Osaka dropped out of the competition. Barty retired from her second-round match with an injury, while Osaka withdrew for personal reasons.
It created a wild tournament that now has four semifinalists that have never reached this stage before.
Maria Sakkari is seemingly now the favorite as the No. 17 seed after her upset win over defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek hadn't even lost a set in 22 tries, but Sakkari showed no fear in the quarterfinal battle, earning two breaks in the first to gain the early edge.
The aggressive play continued as Sakkari pulled off the straight-set upset:
Sakkari advances to the semifinal to face Barbora Krejcikova, who surprised many by defeating the red-hot Coco Gauff Wednesday.
Gauff was competing in her first quarterfinal and is still just 17 years old, but the American hadn't lost a set during the tournament and was coming off a clay-court event win in Parma, Italy. It made her a legitimate contender to win it all.
Her progress was halted by her own sloppiness, as she racked up 41 unforced errors compared to 25 winners. She also had seven double faults and went only 3-of-10 on break opportunities.
Krejcikova took advantage, winning the key points on her way to a straight-set victory.
The two winners will join Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Tamara Zidansek in the women's semifinals set for Thursday.
On the men's side, Djokovic and Nadal are headed for yet another showdown after each won on Wednesday in four sets.
The matchup between the two tennis legends has been extraordinarily close, with Djokovic holding a narrow 29-28 lead. It hasn't been so even at Roland Garros, however, where Nadal holds a dominant 7-1 advantage in the rivalry. Three of those wins came in the semifinals, while another three came in the finals.
Djokovic's only win over Nadal in the French Open came in the 2015 quarters.
It's the matchup that tennis fans have wanted to see. That it's coming in the semifinals and not the finals won't take away from the hype or anticipation. When Djokovic and Nadal face each other at a Grand Slam, it's must-see TV.
The other men's semifinal will see No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas face No. 6 Alexander Zverev.
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