
French Open – Day 11
The second day of quarter-finals was played on day 11. The day started with an all Russian quarter-final between 20th seed, Kasatkina, and 29th seed, Kudermetova. Kasatkina played a relatively clean first and took the set 6-4. The second set was once again led by Kasatkina as she broke early. Sadly for the 20th seed, she became nervous serving for the match at 5-4 and she allowed Kudermetova back into the match. At 6-5 to Kudermetova, Kudermetova had a medical timeout and unfortunately for the 29th seed, she lost all the momentum she had gained before the medical timeout. Kasatkina went on to win 10 of the next 11 points to lead the tiebreak 6-1. Kudermetova saved 4 of the 5 match points but thankfully for Kasatkina she converted the last one and booked a spot in the last 4. The second match of the day was between the 2 highest seeds left in the ladies draw. It was the number 1 seed, Swiatek, up against the 11th seed, Pegula. After the tough match against Zheng in the previous round, Swiatek was back to her best she dropped just 5 games on her way to the last 4 where she will face Kasatkina.
The first mens match on was a big one. It was the 7th seed, Rublev, against 20th seed and in form, Cilic. Rublev took the first set before Cilic took the next 2. Rublev kept on fighting and managed to break Cilic in the 4th set which allowed him to take the match into a 5th set. The 5th set was tightly contested and both players were holding their serve comfortably until Rublev was serving to stay in the match at 4-5. Cilic brought up a match point which was impressively saved by the number 7 seed who took the game and made it 5-5. It was then Cilic’s turn to get tight and he faced a break point in the very next game. Cilic’s serve once again got him out of that pressure situation and Cilic took the game to lead 6-5. Rublev held to love and we were heading into a super-tiebreak. The first 5 points went on serve and Cilic led 3-2. Rublev then served 2 second serves which were punished by Cilic who extended his lead to 5-2. 2 big forehands later and the 20th seed led 7-2. Cilic won the next 3 points in what was a very impressive tiebreak display to book his spot in the last 4. He has now made it to the last 4 in all the 4 grand slams in his career. The last match of the day was between 2 first time quarter-finalists in Ruud and Rune. Ruud settled a lot quicker than Rune and took the first set 6-1. Rune was broken early in the 2nd but found some inspiration after he managed to break back. He used this motivation and took the 2nd set 6-4. The important 3rd set went to a tiebreak. Ruud played a brilliant tiebreak to take the 3rd set. This meant the 19 year old Dane, had a massive uphill battle to win this one. It was to big of a task and the 8th seeded, Norwegian booked his spot in the last 4 where he will face Cilic for a place in Sunday’s final.
Onto the fantasy league and we have a change of lead. ‘Seize the clay’ overtakes ‘Forever and a Clay’ for the lead of this years French Open fantasy league. ‘Drop Shots’ keep their 3rd place with ‘Never Nadal Moment’ remaining in 4th. The last prize position remains in the hands of ‘Team Kickbutt’.
Day 11 saw the loss of 2 more teams. These being Viva La Plonk and Le Gagnant.


Quarter-Finals played on Day 11
- Kasatkina(20) beat Kudermetova(29) – 6-4; 7-6(5)
- Swiatek(1) beat Pegula(11) – 6-3; 6-2
- Cilic(20) beat Rublev(7) – 5-7; 6-3; 6-4; 3-6; 7-6(10-2)
- Ruud(8) beat Rune – 6-1; 4-6; 7-6(2); 6-3
Ladies Semi-Final Day
- Swiatek(1) vs Kasatkina(20) (15:00)
- Trevisan vs Gauff(18) (16:15)

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.