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    #51
    Edmund takes sets 2 and 3 and Fognini has perhaps blown himself out.

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      #52
      Or perhaps not. 2-2 in the fifth.

      Bad morning for the Czech women -Sharapova mashes Pliskova, Kontaveit does for Kvitova in two breakers.

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        #53
        Edmund on serve, but triple mp down...

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          #54
          And misses long. Fognini wins in five after 3h34.

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            #55
            Monfils breaks Goffin three times in a row on the resumption (also broken once himself) to take set three 6-4. He is really feeling it, and trying to make the same of the crowd.

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              #56
              Monfils had his chances, mainly four match points on the Goffin serve at 5-4 in the fourth set, including two in a row at 15-40, but he was already running very low on energy by then and was really gassed in the deciding set. Which is slightly surprising given they were at 3-2 in the third when they recommenced, and Gael is a superb athlete. However reports are that Monfils has been ill this week.

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                #57
                Well, we'll see whether Mertens can beat Halep this time or not, as they both won in R3 to set up a R4 tie. But regardless of the outcome, there'll be no Mertens-Bertens rhyming fun this Roland Garros as Bertens lost to Kerber by two tie-breaks in R3.

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                  #58
                  So, the last 16. Today’s offering is as follows

                  Dominic Thiem [7] vs Kei Nishikori [19] - 2nd on Chatrier
                  Novak Djokovic [20] vs Fernando Verdasco [30] - 4th on Chatrier
                  Karen Khachanov vs Sascha Zverev [2] - 1st on Lenglen
                  David Goffin [8] vs Marco Cecchinato - 3rd on Lenglen

                  Madison Keys [13] vs Mihaela Buzarnescu [31] - 1st on Chatrier
                  Anett Kontaveit [25] vs Sloane Stephens [10] - 3rd on Chatrier
                  Barbora Strycova [26] vs Yulia Putinseva - 2nd on Lenglen
                  Daria Kasatkina [14] vs Caroline Wozniacki [2] - 4th on Lenglen

                  Thiem vs Nishikori looks by far the match of the day on the Men’s side. Both have dropped a couple of sets on the way through, Thiem the second ones against Tsitsipas and Berrettini, Nishikori the second and third against Paire, but neither has been on the verge of elimination. Kei’s ranking is down due to injury (he is remarkably injury-prone) but he is playing far better than #19, and this is a toss-up of a match. Nishikori leads the h2h 2-0, with Thiem yet to claim a set, but this time I go for the Austrian. Just.
                  Both Djokovic and Verdasco overturned higher seeds in the last round, and doesn’t it sound bizarre to say that about Nole? His form in Paris has been scratchy, but there are glimpses the old beast is still in there, particularly in Rome a few weeks ago. Then there is his opponent, Verdasco, who has repeatedly made R4 in Paris (this is his 7th appearance in the last 16) but has never gone beyond it, and often struggles to string two good wins together. I think experience counts and Djoker comes through.
                  Two huge young guns meet in Khachanov and Zverev. Only one of them has played in the second week at Roland Garros before, and that isn’t Zverev. However this match-up looks well nigh perfect for him, as he is basically playing himself just a little bit less developed. Expect lots of big erving and big hitting and Zverev to come through without the level of scare that he suffered against Dzuhmur (in truth Sascha should already be at home, but he escaped).
                  Another who was so, so close to elimination is Goffin, who had to save multiple match points against Monfils yesterday. He will also be tired, as that was a draining match and he has had a day’s less rest than Cecchinato. The Italian pulled off a major shock in the last round rather under-the-radar when he toppled Carreno Busta, which will stand him in good stead as Goffin and Carreno Busta are pretty similar players. However there is the backing up a big win thing, and Goffin is a very determined character (see yesterday) so I’ll go with the Belgian here.

                  If Mihaela Buzarnescu is a new name on you, I don’t blame you – she didn’t even play Roland Garros last year as her ranking was outside the top 400 at the cut-off date. As, so she is a rapidly rising teenager, then? Erm, no, she is a rapidly rising 30 year-old! It’s a remarkable story of a promising junior whose career was seemingly ruined by injury, up until it cleared up in her late 20s and she came back with a vengeance. This is just her third ever Slam main draw appearance and her first by right after coming through the qualies in New York and Melbourne (lost in R1 to Wozniacki on both occasions, tough draws!). Given the win over Svitolina in the last round, the lack of any expectations and the strong sports psychology background (she is Dr Buzarnescu, PhD if you please!) she is an incredibly dangerous opponent for Keys. But Madison is playing very well (her win over Osaka in R3 should have been more comfortable), and she has the raw power to end fairy stories. It will be interesting to see how Buzarnescu reacts to finally being where she dreamed of being, but must have long since given up achieving.
                  Anett Kontaveit is playing well, and took a very notable scalp in Kvitova in the last round. She is well suited to clay. She is more than capable of beating Sloane Stephens, even if this iteration of Slam Sloane is a much stronger player than the one of a few years ago. That toughness was evident in outlasting Giorgi 8-6 in the decider yesterday, but that is going to take a toll and Kontaveit has the sort of game to drive Sloane to distraction as the Estonian is so difficult to hit through. On hard or definitely on grass I would favour the American, but on clay I’m going with Kontaveit.
                  Spunky will be the word for Strycova vs Putinseva. The Czech has reigned in the sourpussness somewhat on recent years, but then it was legendary levels before. Putinseva is very, very driven and can also get rather down on herself. In terms of match-up, what differentiates is Strycova’s extra skills, her willingness to slice, advance up the court and volley. That said, clay is really not her surface, with her three wins to date in this year’s Roland Garros nearly doubling the total number she had registered in the previous 11 visits. Putinseva, meanwhile, is at her best on clay (she made the QFs here two years ago) and has the extra power to hit through, so I go with her to reach another last eight. Neither will win the tournament.
                  But either Daria Kasatkina or Caroline Wozniacki just might. Both will regard this is a big opportunity, with this match arguably being the biggest hurdle either faces en route to the final. Clay is not really Wozniacki’s best surface as the extra time makes her key strength, her superb athleticism and defence, less prominent and emphasise her relative weakness in shot power. By contrast Kasatkina benefits from the slower surface as her own defence isn’t as strong but her attack is better. This is their third meeting of the year, with both the previous two being on hard. And despite that being Caro’s best surface, it was Dasha who won both those encounters. Add clay to the mix and three from three for the young Russian seems likely to me.

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                    #59
                    Zverev is making a meal of this. He has just levelled at one set all on a breaker, having junked the first set with a bad service game at 4-5 and then made set two more complicated by playing a bad service game when serving for it at 5-4. Zverev's last two matches both went to five. Three out of three?

                    Keys should really have beaten Buzarnescu more comfortably than she did. She was leading 6-1 5-2 40-15 and got clearly, obviously tense, to the point of heaving her shoulders to try and loosen them up. In R4, when beating a lower ranked player extremely easily. This is not a good sign.

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                      #60
                      Zverev-Khachanov is not very good Tennis. If this is the future, I'm not looking forward to it.

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                        #61
                        The Williams sisters have just lost the first 4 games of their last 16 match v Klepac and Martinez-Sanchez

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                          #62
                          Missed my preview (sick cat issues), so lets just say I wouldn't have tipped Simona Halep to destroy Elise Mertens. Halep to win? Quite possibly, but not 2&1. Impressive. Sets one and two of Anderson vs Schwartzman would also not fit with my pre-match expectations.

                          Everything pales in comparison to the big one today, though. So many storylines to Serena vs Sharapova. If Maria doesn't win this one, she never will. And I'm rather hopeful that that will be the case.

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                            #63
                            Shit. Serena is withdrawing

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                              #64
                              The risk of losing to HER if not fully fit was too high, I guess.

                              The handshake at the end of Schwartzman-Anderson was something. Wikipedia says there is a foot between them (6'8 to 5'7). It looked like more. Anderson will be kicking himself back to Jo'burg for having lost. After two comfortable sets, he served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the third. And also lost a breaker.

                              Prior to Nadal vs Marterer, I was considering targets for the German. I had 10+ games and >2 hours match length as Grade A. So well done, Maximilan, you did as well as feasibly possible.

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                                #65
                                Probably sensible but these injuries are more likely as she gets older and I wonder if she really has another Slam left in her. The injury is in the worst place it could be for her - the serving zone. If she can't deliver the big bombs, she can't win slams.

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                                  #66
                                  Muguruza got to play two more games than Sharapova. At least I guess they'll both be fresh for their match

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                                    #67
                                    The children are very impressed with Fognini's outfit, with his lightning strikes and skull logos. They've decided he's a supervillain, and thus "cool", but they also advised me that supervillains always lose in the end.

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                                      #68
                                      Zverev may have made it to week 2 but he got absolutely hammered today by Thiem.

                                      In the second men's QF, Cecchinato who's having the week of his life has taken the first set from Djokovic

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                                        #69
                                        Cecchinato an early break up in set 2 as well. What is going on?

                                        Zverev was injured, possibly/probably as a consequence of three successive five-setters. The BBC report says he first showed signs of the injury midway through the second set, but watching on Eurosport he was feeling his left hamstring as early as the third game of set one. McEnroe, on commentary, noticed this. He is really very good.

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                                          #70
                                          This 4th set tie-break is nuts.

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                                            #71
                                            Cecchinato wins in the 4th set.

                                            Cracking match.

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                                              #72
                                              What a tie break

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                                                #73
                                                Great match, but bloody hell am I relieved that Djokovic and his incessant, endless, so so annoying ball bouncing is out. Ugh, I'd forgotten how much I hated it.

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                                                  #74
                                                  That, I would argue, is the biggest shock in Men's Tennis for 20 years or more. Yes, Djokovic isn't quite what he once was, and yes members of the Big Four have lost to unheralded non-seeds before (very, very occasionally!), but this was the Quarter-Final of a Slam for pity's sake. To bring it on that stage makes it a fearsome performance from Cecchinato.

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                                                    #75
                                                    Cecchinato is a fascinating player. Over the course of the match, he looked unstoppable, then broken, then resilient, then broken again, and finally resilient once more.

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