Paris: World No.33 Barbora Krejcikova put together a ruthless display against 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens to reach her maiden Grand Slam singles quarter-final in Paris on Monday.
The Czech two-time major doubles champion has enjoyed a stunning rise in singles over the past eight months and needed a mere 67 minutes to down Stephens 6-2, 6-0 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Krejcikova saved all three break points she faced and benefited from 26 unforced errors coming off of her American opponent's racquet.
The 25-year-old, who is also into the mixed doubles quarter-finals and women's doubles quarter-finals, is a triple threat in Paris this fortnight and will now face American teenager Coco Gauff.
In a battle of former Roland-Garros junior champions, 17-year-old Gauff made it into the first Grand Slam quarter-final of her career with a 53-minute 6-3, 6-1 rout of No.25 seed Ons Jabeur.
Gauff, who was competing in the fourth round at a major for the third time in her young career, extended her current winning streak to eight victories in a row, having picked up the title in Parma on the eve of the tournament.
The American is an impressive 16-3 on clay this season, with Paula Badosa the only player on tour to have won more matches on the surface in 2021 (17-2).
The 24th-seeded Gauff was ever so composed on court against Jabeur, who couldn't muster a single break point on her opponent's serve and committed 21 unforced errors throughout the contest.
"I'm super happy that I was able to reach my first quarter-final [at a major], I played really well, so I'm happy about that. Thank you guys for coming to watch," said Gauff, who has yet to drop a set this fortnight.
"Parma gave me a lot of confidence, especially on the clay, it was my first title on clay so coming here it gave me a lot of confidence and it taught a lot how to close matches and deal with the pressure on important points."
Djokovic tested
World No.1 Novak Djokovic dropped his first two sets of the tournament but advanced to a record 15th Roland-Garros quarter-final when his 19-year-old opponent Lorenzo Musetti retired late in the fourth set with an injury. The Serb lost the opening two sets in tiebreaks before an injured Musetti succumbed 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 (ret.). The 2016 champion will next face Italian ninth seed Matteo Berrettini, who received a walkover into the last eight due to Roger Federer's withdrawal from the tournament.
