Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas became the highest-profile casualty of the French Open men’s draw as he lost in four sets to teenage Dane Holger Rune.
The 19-year-old punished a lacklustre display from the 2021 Roland Garros runner-up to triumph 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Rune had never won a Grand Slam match before this event but has dropped just one set in reaching the quarter-finals.
He meets Casper Ruud in the last eight after the Norwegian also won in four sets, beating Hubert Hurkacz.
World number four Tsitsipas seemed strangely subdued for large parts of the fourth-round match, although he levelled after losing the first set and threatened a fightback towards the end of the fourth.
But Rune saved three break points to serve out the match and become the first Danish man to reach a quarter-final on the Paris clay – and the first since 1967 to make the last eight in any Grand Slam.
“I was very nervous, but at the same time I knew that if I went away from my tactics I would lose for sure,” world number 40 Rune said in his on-court interview.
“It was part of the tactic to be as aggressive as possible – Tsitsipas attacks every ball so I had to be aggressive, play fast and I really like playing the drop shots. It worked out and I’m really happy.”
With fellow 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz also through, it ensured two teenagers are in the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 1994 French Open.
Rune, who won the boys’ title at Roland Garros in 2019, appeared much fresher throughout, with Tsitsipas perhaps feeling the effects of his two draining opening matches.
The Greek came from two sets down to beat Lorenzo Musetti in the first round and then took four hours to see off Czech qualifier Zdenek Kolar in round two.
Eighth seed Ruud also made history by becoming the first Norwegian man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final with his 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory over Hurkacz.
The 23-year-old’s previous best run at a major came in reaching the 2021 Australian Open fourth round but he assumed control from the off against the Polish 12th seed.
Hurkacz had not dropped serve all tournament but Ruud put paid to that statistic in his very first return game and went on to break on five further occasions.
“It’s been a goal of mine to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam – I feel more experienced now playing best of five sets,” said Ruud.
Source: BBC