French Open 2016: Results, Highlights, Sunday Scores Recap from Roland Garros
The 2016 French Open quarterfinals began to take shape Sunday as the fourth round got underway in Paris.
A number of stars, including Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Garbine Muguruza, Milos Raonic and Richard Gasquet, took the court at Roland Garros. Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska were also in action, but their fourth-round fates remain up in the air after inclement weather forced play to halt early for the evening.
Below are recaps for both the men's and women's singles draws at the French Open on Sunday.
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Results
| Fourth Round | Albert Ramos-Vinolas def. Milos Raonic [8] | 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Fourth Round | Andy Murray [2] def. John Isner [15] | 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-3 |
| Fourth Round | Stan Wawrinka [3] def. Viktor Troicki [22] | 7-6(5), (7)6-7, 6-3, 6-2 |
| Fourth Round | Richard Gasquet [9] def. Kei Nishikori [5] | 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 |
| Fourth Round | Shelby Rogers def. Irina-Camelia Begu [25] | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Fourth Round | Garbine Muguruza [4] def. Svetlana Kuznetsova [13] | 6-3, 6-4 |
| Fourth Round | Simona Halep [6] vs. Samantha Stosur [21] | 5-3 (suspended) |
| Fourth Round | Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Agnieszka Radwanska [2] | 2-6, 0-3 (suspended) |
Men's Singles
Albert Ramos-Vinolas delivered the biggest upset of the day, sending Raonic packing in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Roland Garros' official Twitter account shared a replay of match point:
According to ESPN Tennis, the 55th-seeded Ramos-Vinolas is the lowest-seeded quarterfinalist since last year's Wimbledon. He's also the first unseeded player to reach the final eight at the French Open since 2011.
Raonic was his own worst enemy. He collected seven aces and 41 winners but committed four double-faults and 38 unforced errors. The world No. 9 also allowed Ramos-Vinolas 14 break-point opportunities, five of which Ramos-Vinolas converted.
After the match, Raonic didn't blame the conditions in Paris for his defeat, but he felt the overcast skies had at least some impact on his performance, per the Independent's Paul Newman:
"If the sun is out it's always better conditions for me. The conditions were slower and heavier today, but it's me facing the exact same thing he's facing. Who does that benefit? Obviously that's up for interpretation, but I had a simple task out there to try to find a way to win and I wasn't able to find that today.
"
Sunday's loss is a setback for the Canadian, who has otherwise looked strong in 2016, while Ramos-Vinolas continues wading through uncharted territory. He's on to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career having never advanced past the second round in his previous 18 tries.
Stan Wawrinka had his hands full with Viktor Troicki but advanced after winning in four sets, 7-6(5), (7)6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Troicki had success when targeting Wawrinka's forehand, with the defending champion committing 26 unforced errors on his forehand, compared to 14 for his backhand. The Serbian didn't have an answer for Wawrinka's serve, though.
The No. 3 seed won 71.4 percent (60-of-84) of his first serves and 60.7 percent (34-of-56) of his second serves. He also posted 10 more aces (19) than Troicki (nine).
Wawrinka tweeted his excitement with the result:
He wasn't his most dominant Sunday, but he remains on track to win his second French Open in a row, and he couldn't have hoped for a better quarterfinal matchup. Ramos-Vinolas is all that stands between Wawrinka and the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Murray and Gasquet are on a crash course for the quarters after they were both victorious Sunday.
Murray did well to somewhat neutralize John Isner's big serve en route to a straight-set win. According to the ATP World Tour's official site, Isner won 79.6 percent of his first serves and 56.5 percent of his second serves entering Sunday. Against Murray, he prevailed on 73.6 percent of his first serves and 38.5 percent of his second serves.
That, in turn, put more pressure on Isner to win points with his groundstrokes—something with which he has historically struggled to a certain extent. Murray pounded Isner's weaker backhand, which resulted in the American committing 24 unforced errors on that side.
Murray is angling to reach the French Open semis for the third consecutive year, but he'll have a difficult time overcoming Gasquet on his home soil.
Gasquet had reached four Grand Slam quarterfinals over his career but not once at Roland Garros. That changed Sunday after he upset Nishikori, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. According to ESPN Stats & Info, he needed 13 tries to finally reach the French Open quarters, which is an Open Era record.
The New York Times' Christopher Clarey was happy to see Gasquet get the monkey off his back after having carried the expectations of an entire country for so long:
Roland Garros provided the crowd's reaction at Court Philippe Chatrier when the 29-year-old secured the win:
Gasquet put together one of his best matches of the season, picking up 36 winners to just 19 unforced errors. He also won 13 of his 17 points at the net.
Between his performance throughout the tournament and having a partisan Paris crowd behind him, the Frenchman has a great chance of upsetting Murray in the quarters en route to a fourth career Grand Slam semifinal appearance.
Women's Singles
Muguruza reached her third straight French Open quarterfinal after brushing aside Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. WTA Insider thought a performance like this was on the horizon for the 22-year-old:
Although her opponent committed 30 unforced errors, Kuznetsova was unable to overcome Muguruza's impressive groundstrokes. She worked the Russian all over the court and constantly had her on the defensive.
Kuznetsova looked to have an opening in the second set after leveling the score at 4-4. But Muguruza broke her serve in the ninth game and held in the 10th to get the win.
For the most part, 2016 has been disappointing for Muguruza. She lost in the third round of the Australian Open and sported an 11-9 record heading into the French Open. However, she has rediscovered herself at Roland Garros after dropping her first set to Anna Schmiedlova in the first round.
When she's on top of her game, Muguruza is one of the best players in the world, especially on clay. She's a legitimate threat to defending champion Serena Williams.
Of course, Muguruza will first have to overcome Shelby Rogers, the biggest Cinderella story remaining in the tournament. The 23-year-old American upset her third seeded opponent of the tournament, beating No. 25 Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
An emotional Rogers talked about what reaching the French Open quarters means to her, per Roland Garros:
She also let fans in on her post-match celebrations:
Rogers was excellent when returning serve. She won two of her three break-point opportunities, while Begu won just 26.1 percent of her second serves.
No matter what happens in the quarterfinals, Rogers has already left a major impression on the 2016 French Open.
In the two remaining women's singles fourth-round matches, the top seeds are in an early position to advance Monday. Radwanska is already up a set on Tsvetana Pironkova, while Halep has a 5-3 lead on Samantha Stosur in the first set.
Note: All stats are courtesy of Roland Garros' official website.
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