Ruud roars, Jabeur races into French Open quarter-finals

Casper Ruud continued his bid to reach back-to-back finals at the French Open by fending off Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in a 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5 fourth-round win on Monday as Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur also stayed on course for a maiden Grand Slam crown.

Casper Ruud continued his bid to reach back-to-back finals at the French Open by fending off Chile's Nicolas Jarry in a 7-6(3) 7-5 7-5 fourth-round win on Monday as Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur also stayed on course for a maiden Grand Slam crown.

Ruud, who has only dropped two sets in four matches so far, faced a tricky test against lanky claycourt specialist Jarry but pulled through in three hours and 20 minutes as his opponent failed to make his chances count in the last two sets.

"If we had gone five sets I don't know how long we would have played," said Ruud on court Philippe Chatrier. "I have to thank my team for pushing me in practice. I did the work and physically I was ready for more."

He next faces either Dane Holger Rune in a re-match of last year's quarter-final, or Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.

Jabeur moved into the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time with a 6-3 6-1 win over American Bernarda Pera and hoped that the romantic atmosphere of Paris will help her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title.

"Paris is always romantic, day or night. Winning here will definitely be an amazing memory for me," said Jabeur, who became the first African player to reach the quarters at each of the four majors in the Open Era.

The Tunisian had reached the Australian Open quarter-final in 2020 and finished runner-up to Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open title clashes last year.