THE Roland Garros quarter finals arrived with a bang, as two huge matches played out with both going perfectly to plan for two competitors, seeing both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev lock in the first 2021 semi-final. But whilst the latter made it through to the penultimate stage with relative ease, the former did not have it quite so simply.

Tsitsipas had a huge target in his way in second seed Daniil Medvedev, requiring three tight sets to dispose of the Russian in two hours and 19 minutes, 6-4 7-6(3) 7-5. It was the unforced error count which really told the story of the match, as the Greek fifth seed hit 33 winners for just 24 unforced errors, as Medvedev claimed almost as many winners but almost doubled Tsitsipas’ unforced error count with 44 to his name. Tsitsipas achieved entry to a third straight Grand Slam semi-final in the process.

“I feel privileged that I’m in that position, and I feel obviously I’ve put in a lot of daily hard work and has been a key element of me being here,” Tsitsipas said. “But you know, my ego tells me I want more.”

Medvedev was disappointed in the result but appeared confident in his run given he entered the event with a 0-4 record at the Roland Garros.

“Every time I don’t win a tournament, it’s kind of a disappointment,” he said. “But before coming here, as I said, first time I came here it was Thursday or something, I was feeling good straight away, so I was like, ‘I can do good results.’ But before coming here, if anybody would tell me I would be in quarters losing to Tsitsipas in a tough match, I would sign. I will not lie, I would sign, especially being 0-4 in the first rounds before.

“So I think great tournament, great fight today. Was fighting until the last point.”

Meanwhile, Zverev required just over 90 minutes to claim his own victory over unseeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, tested in the first before sweeping the 22-year-old in the remaining sets to take out the 6-4 6-1 6-1 victory. Whilst Davidovich Fokina put up a tough fight, he is also the highest ranked player Zverev has come across at the tournament thus far – ranked 46th in the world – which is a dangerous sign for the german who faces Tsitsipas next.

“I’m in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and I played solid so far,” Zverev said. “I know that the matches [from] the semi-finals on are not going to get easier. I think the opponents there are extremely difficult to beat, so I got to play the same or raise my level even higher to have a chance.

“But I’m comfortable. I’m happy. We’ll see how it is on Friday. But for now, it’s great to be here.”

With 37 unforced errors to Zverev’s 16, Davidovich Fokina failed to hit the mark he set for himself during his maiden Grand Slam quarter final appearance, but Zverev commended his efforts regardless.

“Obviously he’s someone who’s improved a lot over the past year and a half. He’s climbing up the rankings very quickly. It’s his first quarter-final of a Grand Slam and I’m pretty sure it’s not his last.”

ROLAND GARROS QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[5] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated [2] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-4 7-6 7-5
[6] Alexander Zverev (GER) defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) 6-4 6-1 6-1

Picture credit: Julien Crosnier/FFT