Hello and welcome to Sportstar's LIVE blog of Day 8 of the 2019 French Open.
1:00pm: Nishikori wins the second set 6-2 and play has now been suspended.
12:30 pm: What an intensely fought second set, phew! Paire takes the set to a tiebreaker and with the support of a boisterous home crowd, he wins the tiebreaker to pocket the second set.
11:35pm: In the last match of the day, Kei Nishikori has taken the first set 6-2 against local hope Benoit Paire.
11:30pm: There's then win. Sloane Stephens eases to a 6-4,6-3 win over Garbine Muguruza to storm into the last-eight of the French Open.
11:20pm: Sloane Stephens has asserted her dominance here. She's just broken Muguruza and now has a chance to serve for the match!
10:55pm: Stan's the man! The 24th seed Swiss puts up a stirring performance to defeat Tsitsipas 7-6 (8), 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 to storm into the quarterfinal of the French Open.
10:45pm: Advantage Sloane! The American seventh seed takes the first set 6-4 against Muguruza.
10:30pm: This one's going down to the wire! It's six-all in the fifth set and Wawrinka and Tsitsipas are giving it their everything.
9:50pm: Sloane Stephens and Garbine Muguruza are on Court Philippe-Chartier for their round of 16 clash. They've met each other twice before and have a win each. Stephens beat Muguruza at Miami in 2018. Three years prior, a world no. 3 Muguruza knocked out an up and coming Stephens in straight sets in the round of 32 at Wuhan.
9:36pm: The Wawrinka-Tsitsipas clash is into the fifth set as the Greek teenager wins the fourth set 6-3.
9:31pm: Rafael Nadal breaks and he's into his 13th Roland Garros quarterfinal. Can't take away anything from Londero, who gave his everything to challenge Nadal after reaching the fourth round of his maiden Grand Slam main draw appearance. He wins it 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
That's Nadal's 90th win at Roland Garros.
9:18pm: Nadal won't be going through without being broken today. He hits one long and Londero breaks. Nadal still 4-2 up.
Roger Federer was asked about the Dominic Thiem-Serena Williams press conference row. Here's what he had to say.
9:11pm: Rafa, meanwhile, is yet to tbe broken in the match. Federer wasn't broken in his match today. Nadal's looking to match it as he breaks again and moved 4-1 up in the third set.
9:08pm: Tsitsipas comes from 0-40 down to take the game and go 3-0 up in the fourth set.
9:05pm: Tsitsipas takes a tumble as he tries to reach a volley at the net. Seems to have bruised himself a bit and his shirt's covered in clay. His mum's going to come out and tell him "it's okay. Surf excel hain na " right about now.
8:48pm: The third set is Wawrinka's. He wins it 6-4 and is up by a set.
8:42pm: Rafa sends a forehand down the line to close quite a competitive second set 6-3. Londero's giving it his all but Nadal has just been too good. 6-2, 6-3 to Nadal.
8:39pm: It's always beautiful to see two single-handed backhands go at each other. But this one's got everything.
8:05pm: Who's rooting for Tsitsipas-Wawrinka clash to go the distance?
8:00pm: Nadal takes the first set 6-2. Not a sweat.
7:29pm: Meanwhile, the 34-year-old Wawrinka makes the crowd go crazy with a beautiful backhand across the court, that kisses the line. He breaks Tsitsipas who was serving for the set. 5-4 in the second set.
7:18pm: It's GOAT after GOAT here. French Open's favourite son, Rafael Nadal , is in action against Juan Ignacio Londero.
Nadal's been here on so many occasions before. Meanwhile, his opponent is a Roland Garros debutant and he's had quite the experience here. Doesn't look like he'll be disheartened if the experiences culminates against Rafael Nadal - a must-see whhen in Paris.
Argentina's Londero , is making his first appearance in a main draw of a Grand Slam and has only one career title. He won the ATP 250 event at Cordoba, Argentina in February.
7:01pm: GOAT IS THROUGH! Roger Federer reaches the French Open quarterfinals for the 12th time, becoming the oldest man in 28 years to make the last-eight of a Grand Slam. [ REPORT ]
He eases past Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 and will meet either Tsitsipas or Wawrinka in the next round.
Federer is the oldest man to make the quarter-finals of a Slam since Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open.
6:33pm: While Federer cruises on Philippe-Chartier, fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka and Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas are putting on quite a show. It's 6-6 in the first set tiebreaker. And he takes the first set 7-6.
6:23pm: We already have an enthralling contest on Suzanne-Lenglen. Tsitsipas pulls it level to 6-6 in the first set.
6:17pm: Federer's two sets up now. 6-2, 6-3.
5:50pm: Stefanos Tsitsipas and Stan Wawrinka begin an exciting round of 16 clash on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. It's 2-2 in the first set.
5:42pm: There's a ballet performance on centre court. Oh wait! That's just Federer. He takes the first set 6-2.
5:22pm: Johanna Konta wins. She's through to the quarterfinals, beating Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-4.
Konta's never won a match in Paris before and now she's in the quarterfinals. She’ll play Sloane Stephens or Garbine Muguruza in the bext round. Konta seems to have upped her clay game. She also finished runner-up in the Italian Open last month.
5:16pm: GOAT ALERT! Roger Federer's match against Leonardo Mayer is underway on centre court.
Cool as a cucumber. Roger's 14th fourth round at Roland Garros and it's his opponent's first ever.
4:55pm: Petra Martic marches on as she comes from a set down to beat Kaia Kanepi 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. It's also her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
The 29-year-old Croat has been on a steady rise in the past year, winning the Istanbul Open in April this year and a WTA 125k series in Chicago in September last year.
4:46pm: Rohan Bopanna and Marius Copil lose 10-8 in the final set tibreaker. Dusan Lajovic and Janko Tipsarevic are into the men's doubles quarters after a thrilling tiebreaker in the final set. The Croats win 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8).
4:36pm: Konta takes the first set 6-2.
4:33pm: A little away from centre court, on Court 7, India's Rohan Bopanna is in action in the men's doubles round of 16. Bopanna and Marius Copil are holding on against Janko Tipsarevic and Dusan Lajovic, saving two match points to stay in the game. 6-6 in the final set. Tiebreaker.
4:05pm: Donna Vekic and Johanna Konta are in action on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. It's their seventh meeting and the head-to-head record is at 3 each now. It's the first time they're meeting on clay.
3:59pm: Martic wins 6 games on the bounce to close out the second set 6-2. Into the third set we go.
3:37pm: Match point for Marketa Vondrousova and she takes it with a powerful crosscourt forehand at the net. She's into the quarterfinals for the fifth tournament in a row and that's the furthest she's gone in a Grand Slam. 6-2, 6-0 in just under an hour. Sevastova looked to have run out of steam after her three hour long match against Elise Mertens yesterday (carried over from Day 6). [ REPORT ]
"I think I played my best tennis today, against a very tough opponent."
3:29pm: Kaia Kanepi has won the first set 7-5 against Petra Martic.
3:15pm: Vondrousova has won the first set 6-2. If she beats 12th seed Sevastova here, it'll be the furthest she's gone in a Grand Slam.
3:10pm: At Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Marketa Vondrousova and Anastasija Sevastova are in action. Vondorusova has been dominant in the first set, leading 5-2 and serving for the set.
19-year-old Vondrousova has had a breakthrough year, reaching two finals on the WTA tour - Istanbul and Budapest, before beating Simona Halep in the third round in Rome last month. Read more about her here .
Speaking of Halep, the defending champion came up with a killer drop during her clinical defeat of Lesia Tsurenko yesterday. Watch below
3:08pm: Kaia Kanepi and Petra Martic are playing on Court Philippe-Chartier and are 3-3 in the first set after a break each.
Yesterday was a day of big upsets, as is usual in the French Open. Take a look at how Day 7 went down
The round of 16 fixtures begin today and there are some exciting fixtures lined up.
Highlights from Day 7
- Sofia Kenin beat Serena Williams 6-2, 7-5
- Simona Halep beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-1
- Naomi Osaka lost to Kateřina Siniaková 4-6, 2-6
- Novak Djokovic beat Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
- Aliona Bolsova Zadoinov beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 7-5
- Alexander Zverev beat Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2
- Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Filip Krajinović 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6)
- Stan Wawrinka beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8)
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