French Open 2015 Results: Sunday Winners, Scores, Stats and Singles Draw Update
Hours of rain delays cast a shadow over Sunday's fourth-round play at the 2015 French Open, canceling some marquee matches and postponing one more after a rain-soaked day at Roland Garros.
Persistent storms postponed action long enough for some of the matches to be cancelled early on, and the long delays pushed those on the main courts up against the clock. The de facto matchup of the day between Roger Federer and Gael Monfils—just the third of four matches scheduled on the Philippe-Chatrier Court—could only get two sets in before the players mutually agreed that it was too dark to continue.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
With that said, there were still a couple of telling results on the wet clay courts Sunday and some scintillating tennis to take in. Let's break down everything that happened Sunday.
2015 French Open Scores: Sunday, May 31
| No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 13 Gael Monfils | Postponed at 6-3, 4-6 (6:30 a.m. Mon.) |
| No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. No. 4 Tomas Berdych | 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 |
| No. 5 Kei Nishikori def. Teymuraz Gabashvili | 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 |
| No. 8 Stan Wawrinka def. No. 12 Gilles Simon | 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 |
| No. 2 Maria Sharapova vs. No. 13 Lucie Safarova | Cancelled (5 a.m. Mon.) |
| No. 7 Ana Ivanovic def. No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova | 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 |
| No. 19 Elina Svitolina def. No. 29 Alize Cornet | 6-2, 7-6 (9) |
| No. 28 Flavia Pennetta vs. No. 21 Garbine Muguruza | Cancelled (5 a.m. Mon.) |
Complete results at RolandGarros.com
No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. No. 4 Tomas Berdych
In what turned out to be the feature match of a rain-delayed afternoon at Roland Garros marred by cancellations and postponements, France's own Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ousted fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych in four sets to advance to the quarterfinal.
Tsonga looked focused from the get-go, winning the first two sets in such a dominating fashion that Berdych could only squeeze four games out of them. He seemed like a shoo-in for a straight-set victory, until Berdych somehow broke Tsonga's serve for the set and came back from an 0-3 hole to win a third-set tiebreaker.
When Berdych took a 3-1 lead in the fourth set, silence fell over the pro-Tsonga crowd, and a fifth set seemed inevitable. Then, Tsonga turned it on one last time, rattling off five straight games to take the victory.
While Tsonga's inability to close the third set had the makings of a choke job, Berdych ended up being the one with a missed opportunity, as Carole Bouchard of TennisWorldItalia.com wondered how he gave up his fourth-set advantage:
The win lifted Tsonga to third among Frenchmen at Grand Slams, as told by Josh Meiseles of ATPWorldTour.com:
The win is certainly validating for Tsonga, who missed much of 2015 due to injury but is peaking once again at a location he's had success in, per RolandGarros.com: "I'm playing good tennis. I'm solid. When I play my best tennis, I know I'm able to beat many guys. I always believed in me and try to be really consistent in my head."
Tsonga moves on to face No. 5 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals, an opponent who has yet to drop a set at Roland Garros. But considering the Frenchmen will have the crowd on his side and is growing increasingly confident in his game, he'll have more than a fighting chance to make his second career French Open semifinal.
No. 7 Ana Ivanovic def. No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova
2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic continues to make her case in the women's bracket, withstanding a resilient test from ninth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and outclassing the Russian in a dominant third set.
The No. 7 seeded Serbian undoubtedly faced her toughest match thus far of the tournament, which proved evident from an opening set that Ivanovic won. She pulled through in the first set but started to show signs of inconsistency in a second set that Makarova won, 6-3.
With everything on the line entering set No. 3, Ivanovic came out aggressive and dominated Makarova, winning 25 of the 37 points and more than half of the receiving points in the final frame.
After some of the worst struggles of her career in 2015 prior to Roland Garros, Ivanovic admitted she didn't expect to get this far, per the tournament's Twitter:
This level of play has always seemed possible for Ivanovic, but consistency has often eluded her in pressure-packed moments. That doesn't seem to be the case in Roland Garros, where she has proven cool and composed in those situations.
Although names like Serena Williams and Sharapova could be waiting later on, Ivanovic has a solid shot at returning to the semifinals. She faces 19th-seeded Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals, which would lead to a potential semis matchup with Sharapova.
No. 8 Stan Wawrinka def. No. 12 Gilles Simon
Eighth-seeded Stan Wawrinka has been overlooked ad nauseam at Roland Garros and entered Sunday facing a surging Frenchman who has had his number in recent meetings. That didn't matter, and now Wawrinka is quickly emerging into the forefront of the conversation in the men's draw.
Wawrinka demoralized No. 12 Gilles Simon from the get-go, setting the tone for a dominating straight-sets victory to push his way into the quarterfinals.
It became apparent early on that Wawrinka wasn't about to lose his third match to Simon in their last four meetings. He took the first set in a brisk pace, as told by Roland Garros:
Simon got the crowd back behind him and put up more of a fight in the final two sets, but it didn't make a difference. He stood no chance in the midst of Wawrinka's constant pressure and aggressive hitting, pushing the Swiss native through easily despite hitting 42 unforced errors.
Not only did Wawrinka impress by the way he attacked, but the conditions and a mobile opponent only made his 34 winners that much better, as told by tennis broadcaster Ravi Ubha:
The eighth-seeded 2014 Australian Open champion has already tied his best result at Roland Garros, but breaking through to the semis for the first time will prove tough. He's set to face the winner of Federer vs. Monfils, which got postponed late Sunday.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
