Kalinskaya and Auger-Aliassime advance to French Open quarters

Russian 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya scrapped her way to her second Grand Slam quarter-final on Monday, edging out Anastasia Potapova in a tense French Open fourth-round tie.

Kalinskaya clinched a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10/7) victory after two hours and 49 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen against 28th-seeded Austrian Potapova.

The 27-year-old Kalinskaya, whose only previous Slam quarter-final appearance came at the 2024 Australian Open, will face Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska.

Chwalinska her remarkable run at the French Open by cruising into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Diane Parry.

The world number 114 ended French interest in the singles at Roland Garros by seeing off home hope Parry 6-3, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“I didn’t expect it for sure, coming in starting the tournament. I’m just very, very grateful to be here,” said Chwalinska.

The 24-year-old Chwalinska had only won one match in her two previous Grand Slam appearances, at Wimbledon in 2022.

“It was an unbelievable fight from both of us until the last second,” said Kalinskaya.

Potapova fought back from 4-1 down to take control of a nervy deciding set but twice failed to serve out for the match.

The 25-year-old, who switched allegiance from Russia to Austria last December, also took a 4-1 lead in the final-set tie-break before making a string of unforced errors to give up the advantage.

Russian Diana Shnaider reached the quarter-finals for the first time with a three-set victory over Madison Keys.

The 25th seed dropped her level in the second set but raced through the decider in just 26 minutes to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

“It’s definitely a huge moment for me, I’m super happy,” said Shnaider. “I’m super proud of myself for being for the first time in the quarter-finals.”

The exit of Keys, the 2025 Australian Open winner, means Sabalenka and Osaka are the only two Grand Slam champions left in either the men’s or women’s singles draws at Roland Garros.

Shnaider’s previous best run at a major was a fourth-round appearance at the 2024 US Open.

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime despatched Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

After playing nine sets and more than 11 hours as he won his first three matches in the first-week heatwave, Auger-Aliassime sped through his fourth match in two hours, eight minutes with the temperature in the mid-20s.

“Today was the ideal scenario,” said the Canadian.

“It was the best tennis I’ve played here. Its great than in the fourth match I’ve found my best tennis.”

Matteo Berrettini stormed into his first Grand Slam quarter-final in four years with an impressive straight-sets victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo .

The former Wimbledon finalist, who has been plagued by injuries, won 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6) against Argentinian Cerundolo, who had dumped out world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round.

“This (tennis) is the love of my life, I guess, otherwise I wouldn’t keep coming back after all the setbacks, the injuries,” said Berrettini.

Berrettini, the world number 105, is the lowest-ranked Roland Garros men’s quarter-finalist since Igor Andreev in 2007.

“I feel great, I feel happy,” he added. “That’s why I’m here, I just want to enjoy this atmosphere with my team, with my family.”

Berrettini, who lost the 2021 Wimbledon showpiece to Novak Djokovic, is the only Grand Slam finalist left in his half of the draw and one of only two remaining in the men’s tournament, alongside Alexander Zverev.

Flavio Cobolli clawed into the quarter-finals, beating Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5).

At No.10, the Italian goes into the last eight as the third-highest remaining men’s seed. It will be the 24-year-old’s second Grand Slam quarter-final. He reached the last eight at Wimbledon last season.

Cobolli raced through the first two sets in a total of one hour 25 minutes, breaking twice in each.

In the third, Svajda started to put up some resistance and Cobolli began to wobble.

Twice the 23-year-old American held serve to save the match and then took the tiebreak as Cobolli’s accuracy deserted him.

In the fourth, Cobolli galloped to a 4-0 lead. From 5-1 up he could not finish Zvajda off, wasting a match point at 5-4.

The Italian found just enough composure to win a tiebreak in which both players showed their nerves. Cobolli won in three hours, 21 minutes.

Agencies