French Open 2015: Results, Scores, Winners and Tuesday Twitter Reaction
The first four tickets to the 2015 French Open semifinals were punched on Tuesday at Roland Garros. Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved within two wins of a major title on the men's side while Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova did the same in the women's draw.
Wawrinka knocked out countryman and No. 2 seed Roger Federer for the day's most notable result. The draw set up perfectly for the 17-time Grand Slam champion with the rest of the Big Four in the other half of the bracket. He wasn't able to capitalize on that good fortune, though.
Let's check out a complete list of final scores from the 10th day of play in Paris. It's followed by a recap of the action as the season's second major nears its conclusion.
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Day 10 Men's Results
| Quarterfinals | (8) Stan Wawrinka | (2) Roger Federer | 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 |
| Quarterfinals | (14) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | (5) Kei Nishikori | 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 |
Day 10 Women's Results
| Quarterfinals | (7) Ana Ivanovic | (19) Elina Svitolina | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Quarterfinals | (13) Lucie Safarova | (21) Garbine Muguruza | 7-6, 6-3 |
Tuesday Recap
Day 10 play started on the women's side. Ivanovic, the 2008 champion in this event, continued her resurgence with a routine victory over Elina Svitolina to reach the semifinals in a major for the first time since that triumph seven years ago.
It's always seemed more like a mental battle than a physical one for the Serbian star. She possesses a game capable of winning multiple Grand Slam titles, but problems with her serve toss and an inability to close out lesser foes has held her back in recent years.
She's showcased far more consistency over the past two weeks and is now back at the business end of a marquee event. Facing Safarova is certainly a highly winnable match at this stage of the tournament despite her 3-5 career record against the Czech lefty.
Courtney Nguyen of Sports Illustrated noted the pair's brief history on clay courts:
Chris Skelton of Tennis View Magazine explained why it wasn't easy to see this type of performance coming from Ivanovic:
Safarova further solidified her late-bloomer status by eliminating Garbine Muguruza in straight sets. She didn't make a single Grand Slam semifinal in her first nine years. Now, she has reached that stage twice in her past four tries, with the other coming at Wimbledon last summer.
Furthermore, she had never advanced beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros until this year. So, much like Ivanovic, her run into championship contention wasn't exactly easy to predict. But it's been a wild tournament on the women's side.
Matt Zemek of Bloguin highlighted the late rise of Safarova:
Tumaini Carayol of Foot Fault illustrated how well the veteran has played in Paris:
Both Ivanovic and Safarova deserve a lot of credit for reaching this point, it's not a fluke in either case. Their semifinal will likely feature more drama than their two matches on Tuesday combined.
On the men's side, Wawrinka simply outplayed Federer. He had a 43-28 edge in winners, won 37 percent of receiving points compared to 24 percent for the No. 2 seed and broke three times while his compatriot couldn't convert any of his four break chances.
It marks his third straight really impressive victory. He also beat Steve Johnson and Gilles Simon with similar overwhelming play. For a player who advanced to the French Open quarterfinals just once before this year, it's a major uptick in form on the clay.
Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated points out that the exit of Federer changes the dynamic of any event:
Matt Cronin of Tennis Reporters was impressed with the effort from Wawrinka:
Tsonga was on cruise control in the early going against Kei Nishikori. Then, a freak accident occurred when part of the stadium structure fell off, which caused a delay in the match. It gave the No. 5 seed a chance to regroup and knocked the Frenchman out of his rhythm, completely changing the match.
Broadcast Sound provided a picture of the incident:
Piers Newbery of BBC Sport spotlighted the momentum shift afterward:
Tsonga was able to bounce back before letting a golden opportunity completely slip away. He scored a crucial break in the fourth game of the final set and was able to serve it out from there to survive and advance to the semifinals.
Nick McCarvel of USA Today noted the much needed turnaround:
Tsonga and Wawrinka are 3-3 against each other with five of those meetings coming on clay. The Swiss star holds the 3-2 edge in the matchups on the surface. The biggest question might be how much the electric Frenchman has left in the tank after Tuesday's long match.
The action continues on Wednesday with a terrific slate. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal headline the schedule with one of the most anticipated Grand Slam quarterfinals in a long time. Andy Murray and David Ferrer will also battle on the men's side.
Serena Williams, the only top-four women's player to avoid the upset bug, will try to move one step closer to her 20th major title against Sara Errani. Timea Bacsinszky and Alison Van Uytvanck will face off in the other quarterfinal, a surprising matchup to say the least.
The quarterfinal round isn't always must-see action, even at majors. Wednesday certainly is with so many big names on the docket. It should be a memorable day of tennis at Roland Garros.
All stats courtesy of the tournament's official site unless otherwise noted.
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