Djokovic and Federer cruise
Holder Schiavone stays on course after hard-earned win
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer closed in on a French Open semi-final showdown yesterday while hobbling Italian Fabio Fognini struck a colourful Grand Slam blow for the tennis underclass.
Second seed Djokovic took his winning run to 43 matches as he brushed aside France’s Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to set up a last eight clash with Fognini.
Federer, the 2009 champion and third seed, reached a record 28th successive Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win over best friend Stanislas Wawrinka.
He will next tackle either Spain’s David Ferrer or Gael Monfils of France.
Not to be outdone, unheralded Fognini, the world 49, became the first Italian man to reach the quarter-finals in 16 years by defeating Spain’s Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 win in a 4 hour 22 minute marathon.
Fognini saved five match points and needed a medical time-out for a left thigh injury which may yet rule him out of his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Unstoppable Djokovic is now just three wins short of matching Guil-lermo Vilas’s record of 46 consecutive wins and one shy of John McEnroe’s mark of 42 for an un-beaten start to a season set in 1984.
The red-hot Serb breezed to his fifth career win in six meetings against the 13th-seeded Gasquet.
“I’m happy with my game. I played a great match against a great player, but I got important breaks and made no mistakes after that,” said Djokovic.
“I’m playing the best tennis of my life at the moment. But it’s important to just focus on each match and see how far I can go.”
In the women’s tournament, Francesca Schiavone’s love affair with Roland Garros continued yesterday as she dug deep to defeat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
It was the little Italian’s 11th straight win in Paris following her upset triumph last year and she will next take on Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who at 19 is 11 years her junior.
The 2006 world junior girls champion and 14th seed saw off her more experienced compatriot and third seed Vera Zvonareva 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.
Also through to the last eight was Marion Bartoli who became the first French woman to reach the quarter-finals since Mary Pierce was runner-up in 2005 when Gisela Dulko retired when 7-5, 1-0 down with an injury to her left thigh.
She will next take on 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia. Yesterday, she beat Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Top seeds flop
With the top two seeds, Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters already out of the tournament, the highest-ranking players left are fourth seed Victoria Azarenka and Schiavone.
It was the first time in the Open era (since 1968) that none of the top three seeds reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
Schiavone used all her clay-court craftsmanship to counter Jankovic, who had much more power in her shot-making and depth to her serve.
Using plenty spin and tactical positioning, Schiavone ran away with the first set, but the Serb dominated the second.
The key moment in the decider came, after an early exchange of service breaks, in the ninth game with the scores level at 4-4.
Schiavone went on the offensive at the net to earn a break point which she converted when an under-pressure Jankovic hit long with a backhand.
She then served out for the match to extend her unbeaten run at Roland Garros, bending down to kiss the red dirt surface as she had done a year ago when she finally won a Grand Slam title at the veteran age of 29.