French Open day 9: Serena, Woz out, Delpo glides through, Nadal on cruise control

The last day of the fourth round matches had two retirements, including Serena Williams, a confident Muguruza, Nadal, Delpo, and Halep while Cilic and Schwartzman suffered testy matches against Fognini and Anderson that they fought to win.

The marquee event of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova was halted before it could begin, with the 23-time grand slam champion withdrawing due to a pectoral injury that may even prevent her participation at Wimbledon next month. Sharapova got an easy pass into the quarterfinals in a tournament she has won twice. A win at Roland Garros — her third — would equal Williams’ slam record here and would be the icing on the cake of her comeback.

Two games in, Lesia Tsurenko retired after trailing Garbine Muguruza, sending the 2016 Roland Garros winner to the quarters as well. The Spaniard has been breezing through her matches all tournament long and is a serious contender for the title, where she won her maiden slam a few years back, accomplishing the rare feet of defeating Serena Williams in a grand slam final in straight sets.

“Once you have won Grand Slams, you have prove[n] that you can do it,” Spain’s Muguruza said after her win over Sam Stosur the match before.

Another two-time slam champion, Angelique Kerber, has been regaining her form at this year’s French Open after a difficult decline since first achieving the No. 1 ranking in 2016. She’s played confident throughout, and her win in two sets over seventh seed Carolina Garcia was no exception, 6-2, 6-3.

Romania’s Simona Halep has been on-target all tournament long, racking up easy wins along the way, by playing exceptional tennis and demonstrating why she’s the first seed. She defeated countrywoman Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1, with an impressive amount of winners. Halep is considered the major contender for the title this year.

More from French Open

• Karolina Muchova vs. Iga Swiatek prediction and odds for Women’s French Open Finals
• Alexander Zverev vs. Casper Ruud prediction and odds for Men’s French Open semifinals
• Best French Open Betting Promos Unlock Over $3,000 for Tennis Betting for Caesars, BetMGM and FanDuel New Users
• Women’s French Open preview, draw, prediction and odds
• DraftKings Tennis Promo Offering $150 for Any $5 Bet on the French Open!

The finalist who beat Halep in Australia, Caroline Wozniacki, however, went home disappointed, losing to Russia’s Daria Kasatkina, in a match that continued from the night before, when impending nightfall prevented the conclusion. The second set was tied 3-3 at the time, with Woz hoping to turn things around after losing the first set in a tight 5-7, but the 21-year-old Russian came out strong and won three games in a row to clinch the win, and is now into the quarters.

“It’s something like dream come true to play on this court, it was my dream since childhood,” said Kasatkina after the match. “First time I took a racket in my hand I played like this. It’s just the way of my mind.”

The most exciting men’s match today was between Fabio Fognini and Marin Cilic, which looked like a fairly straightforward affair until the Italian came alive in the third set and found the fire to match his loud, red outfit with a lightning bolt down the center of his shirt. Fognini started to match the enormous amount of winners to Cilic, and the match evolved into a nail-biting five-setter, but the Croat prevailed, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-3. It certainly was a lot of fun to watch.

“It was not easy to keep going. It was a lot of ups and downs but I was really satisfied at the end with the way I was fighting,” said Cilic afterwards.

The 2014 U.S. Open winner will now face another big server, Juan Martin del Potro, who won his own match of tall big servers, knocking out the only American left in the draw, John Isner, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Kevin Anderson (who stands 6-foot-8) and the much shorter Diego Schwartzman also went the distance with five sets, but this time, the Argentine was able to come from two sets behind and get the win during a testy match that had the world No. 12 complaining to the chair umpire about the U.S. Open finalist’s bad sportsmanship.

Seriously, check out the difference in size:

Hilarious.

Rafael Nadal was, well, Nadal, so he won. On clay. No surprise. He defeated German Maximilian Marterer, and was pushed in the last set to a tie break. The 10-time Roland Garros champ hasn’t lost a set all tournament. Because he’s Nadal. He also turned 32 on Sunday.

“I don’t feel old, but I am 32, and I have been here since 2003, so it’s a long way, a lot of years,” said Nadal in a press conference.

“I started very young. That’s a real thing. But, no, I feel happy to be here. I hope to keep doing this for a while.”

The exciting quarterfinals start on Tuesday, with a tantalizing match between sensations Dominic Thiem — the only man to defeat Nadal on clay this year — and Alexander Zverev, the only person to have won a clay Masters 1000 this year besides Nadal. Stay tuned for that one.