PARIS -- Roland Garros debutant Jannik Sinner ousted U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev from the French Open with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory that could hardly be called an upset, so impressive has the 19-year-old Italian been on his run to the quarterfinals.
Pulling the No. 6 seed this way and that with his precision groundstrokes, the 75th-ranked Sinner is the first debutant to reach the men’s quarterfinals since Rafael Nadal, who’ll be his next opponent. Nadal didn’t stop at the quarterfinals as a newbie in 2005: He won the first of his 12 titles on the Paris clay.
In the women’s draw, another debutant also is through to the quarterfinals. Argentinian qualifier Nadia Podoroska beat Barbora Krejcikova, ranked 114th and from the Czech Republic, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The 131st-ranked Podoroska, who lost in the first round at her only previous Grand Slam, the U.S. Open in 2016, will face third-seeded Elina Svitolina from Ukraine. A semifinalist last year at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Svitolina advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 win against French player Caroline Garcia.