Stefanos Tsitsipas sees off Daniil Medvedev to reach French Open semi-finals

Eleanor Crooks, PA Tennis Correspondent

Stefanos Tsitsipas saw off number two seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3 7-6 (3) 7-5 in the night session to reach the semi-finals of the French Open.

Alexander Zverev had earlier secured his place in the last four at Roland Garros for the first time with a comfortable straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Tamara Zidansek both won epic battles against Elena Rybakina and Paula Badosa respectively, to reach their first grand slam semi-finals.

Britain’s Joe Salisbury will play in the mixed doubles final with American partner Desirae Krawcyzk after they were given a walkover.

Picture of the day

Germany’s Alexander Zverev in action at the French Open
Alexander Zverev produced an impressive display as he stayed on course for French Open success (Thibault Camus/AP)

Tweets of the day

Zidansek following in Jausovec’s footsteps

A post shared by tamara.zidansek (@tamarazidansek997)

Zidansek was the first player representing Slovenia to reach a grand slam quarter-final, but not the first Slovenian. Mima Jausovec won the title at Roland Garros in 1977 playing for Yugoslavia.

Zidansek said: “During Covid last year, things in Slovenia were quite OK. We gathered all the players and we did like a Laver Cup kind of thing. It was called Mima Jausovec. That’s when I met her. Of course I know her result about winning Roland Garros and everything. She’s a legend of the sport in Slovenia.”

Del Potro back on court

It is almost exactly two years since Juan Martin Del Potro fractured his kneecap during a fall at Queen’s Club. Four operations later, the Argentinian is still some way away from a return to the match court but all of his fans will be pleased to see him hitting balls again.

Fallen seeds

Women: Elena Rybakina (21), Paula Badosa (33)
Men: Daniil Medvedev (2)

Who’s up next?

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will attempt to set up yet another grand slam battle when they contest their quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Nadal plays Diego Schwartzman, who he beat in the semi-finals last year, while Djokovic takes on big-hitting Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek is yet to drop a set and will be the favourite against Maria Sakkari while 17-year-old Coco Gauff takes on Czech Barbora Krejcikova.

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