Quarterfinals set in Paris

Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia prevails in one of the longest matches of the Open Era to reach the quarter-final in Paris. pic.twitter.com/lHQHZOITrw

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) June 5, 2023

Lesia Tsurenko, who has had to deal with way more than her share of injuries over the year--and especially with her chronically vulnerable elbow--made it all the way to the French Open round of 16, but had to retire in her match against Iga Swiatek. This time it was illness that brought the Ukrainian player down, and she retired at 1-5 in the first set. There are a few players on the tour who just can't seem to catch a break, and Tsurenko is one of them. 

A full match that also didn't last too long was  the played between Bernarda Pera and 7th seed Ons Jabeur. Jabeur won it, 6-3, 6-1, in just over an hour. Also winning today was 6th seed Coco Gauff, who defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 7-5, 6-2. Schmiedlova made a comeback from 2-5 down in the first, but was unable stop Gauff.

And then there was the match that lasted for three hours and 51 minutes, not at all to my surprise. I wrote yesterday that my hope was that the round of 16 contest between Sara Sorribes Tormo and Beatriz Haddad Maia would be on at a time that I could watch it; the day before, I wrote that, given my luck, it would probably be on early.

Well, it was on early, and I felt cheated because I knew what kind of grinding, knock-down-drag-out fight they would get into. My luck wasn't all bad, though--the match went on for such a long time that I was able to watch the third set. I wasn't disappointed. Sorribes Tormo and Haddad Maia, both appearing indefatigable, threw everything they had at each other, and the result was wildly entertaining. Haddad Maia won, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, and one hopes that she'll be able to recover adequately for her quarterfinal match.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Coco Gauff (6)
Beatriz Haddad Maia (14) vs. Ons Jabeur (7)
Karolina Muchova vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Elina Svitolina vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

Gauff was the runner-up last year (lost to Swiatek in the final), and Pavlyuchenkova was the runner-up the year before (lost to Barbora Krejcikova in the final). Swiatek won the French Open in 2020 and 2022.