ASIDE from one losing first set tiebreaker, the four quarter finalists through to the last thus far did not drop a set on their road to the next round at Roland Garros today. All the higher ranked players in each match-up got through, as top seed Novak Djokovic, fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 13th seed Andrey Rublev and 17th seed Pablo Carreno Busta booked their spots in the final eight.

Rublev had the biggest challenge of the quartet, dropping the first set in a tiebreaker to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, before recovering to win 6-7 7-5 6-4 7-6 in a thrilling four-set contest. The match lasted three hours and 54 minutes, with both players standing up to the pressure with some high-powered hitting. Fusovics hit more winners (61-44), but also made more unforced errors (63-47) as his Roland Garros run – kick-started by an upset win over fourth seed Daniil Medvedev – came to an end.

For Rublev, he won 74 per cent of his first serve points to the Hungarian’s 61 per cent, whilst breaking even off his second serve (50 per cent to 42 per cent). Both players were adept at the net with high success rates, but it was Rublev’s extra couple of breaks – seven from 12 opportunities – that made the difference and left Fucsovics with missed opportunities – five from 16 – in the match. It did look at one stage like Rublev might fall two sets behind being 2-5 in the second, but the up and coming Russian fought back.

“I think I was a little bit lucky,” Rublev said post-match. “He was a set and 5-2 up, 5-3 serving for the second set. Then he was up a break in the third set… It was really tough. “I expected a match exactly like this. “I didn’t know who was going to win, but I expected it was going to be a really tough match for me to win… I am really happy that, in the end, I won today.”

Now Rublev takes on Tsitsipas in a rematch of the Hamburg European Open final which saw the Russian claim the spoils in an upset over his Greek opponent. Tsitsipas defeated troubling Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets, 6-3 7-6 6-2 to reach his first Roland Garros quarter final. Though the second set tiebreaker was a nail-bitter – an 11-9 win to Tsitsipas – it was Tsitsipas’ composure throughout the match to hit 24 winners to Dimitrov’s 22, whilst only conceding 30 unforced errors to the Bulgarian’s 53.

“The tie-break was very tense. The tie-break was where all the money was,” Tsitsipas said post-match. “I am glad that I played good tennis and I didn’t panic. I stayed concentrated, stayed low-key and tried to take it point-by-point.

“I think it worked out pretty well at the end. “I showed lots of discipline, lots of responsibility. “It was a very responsible win in the second set and I am very happy with myself and the attitude that I put out on the court.”

Tsitsipas said he knew it would be a battle given the similarities in their games styles, and described his opponent as “unpredictable” which made it difficult throughout the contest.

“I felt comfortable. I think Grigor can be very unpredictable and he has a great game, so coming into the match you don’t really know what to expect,” Tsitsipas said. “We have a similar style of play, so I knew that if I could be as aggressive as possible, play with my forehand and use my serve to create opportunities, they [would] eventually come.

Now the Greek star has to find a way to overturn a 6-4 3-6 7-5 defeat at the hands of Rublev in Hamburg.

“We grew up playing together. [Andrey] has improved a lot… It is very important for me to take this opportunity and fight harder this time, maybe do something better… He’s going to be difficult to play against. He has a very complete, solid game from all the departments,” Tsitsipas said.

“He has improved a lot [on] his serve. He relies a lot on his power. “He has very powerful shots. “We share a similar game style, I would say. “Mine would probably be more coming to the net, using a bit more the angles. “He’s a very challenging player to play against. “I think he for sure brings the best out of me when I step out on the court to play against him.”

Meanwhile in the other results, Djokovic rolled on to set up a quarter finals match up with Carreno Busta. The Serbian world number one had no problems defeating 13th seed Karen Khachanov in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 6-3 in two hours and 23 minutes. Djokovic hit 44 winers to 31 and had three less unforced errors (28-31), breaking six times to two which was the difference between the players in an otherwise tight contest.

Carreno Busta posted a straight sets win over German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 6-2 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 21 minutes. Winning the first set easily 6-2, the 17th seed Spaniard had to stay in the match at 4-5 on serve which he did, then won the last three games of the set to claim it 7-5. It was a part of seven consecutive games the Spaniard won on his way to victory and a spot in the last eight. The commentators described Altmaier’s game as one of “absolute brilliance mixed with utter ordinary” whilst the Spaniard’s consistency across the match was too much.

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