Flavio Cobolli fights into French Open last eight against dogged Zachary Svajda

PARIS – A “nervous” Flavio Cobolli on June 1 clawed into the French Open quarter-finals, beating Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5).

At No. 10, the Italian goes into the last eight as the third-highest remaining men’s seed. It will be the 24-year-old’s second Grand Slam quarter-final. He reached the last eight at Wimbledon last season.

Cobolli will face either fourth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime or unseeded Chilean Alejandro Tabilo.

Cobolli raced through the first two sets in a total of 1hr 25min, breaking twice in each.

In the third, Svajda started to put up some resistance and Cobolli began to wobble.

Twice, the 23-year-old American held serve to save the match and then took the tiebreak as Cobolli’s accuracy deserted him.

In the fourth, Cobolli galloped to a 4-0 lead. From 5-1 up, he could not finish Zvajda off, wasting a match point at 5-4.

The Italian found just enough composure to win a tiebreak in which both players showed their nerves. Cobolli won in 3hr 21min.

“The match is never done and today I almost sh*t in my pants,” said Cobolli. “I’m happy but I’m still nervous.”

American world No. 85 Svajda had won only two Grand Slam matches before his surprising run to the fourth round at Roland Garros.

In the women’s draw, Russian 22nd-seed Anna Kalinskaya scraped her way to her second Grand Slam quarter-final on June 1, edging out Anastasia Potapova in a tense fourth-round tie.

Kalinskaya, 27, clinched a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory after 2hr 49min on Court Suzanne-Lenglen against the 28th-seeded Austrian.

Kalinskaya, whose only previous Slam quarter-final appearance was at the 2024 Australian Open, will face either Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska or Frenchwoman Diane Parry on June 3.

“It was an unbelievable fight from both of us until the last second,” said Kalinskaya.

Potapova fought back from 4-1 down to take control of a nervy deciding set but twice failed to serve out for the match.

The 25-year-old, who switched allegiance from Russia to Austria last December, also took a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak before making a string of unforced errors to give up the advantage.

Meanwhile, Joao Fonseca said a change in mentality and months of hard work have helped fuel his rise to a first Grand Slam quarter-final after the Brazilian teenager’s breakthrough run.

The 19-year-old reached the last eight of a Major for the first time on May 31 with a 7-5, 7-6 (10-8), 5-7, 6-2 victory over two-time runner-up Casper Ruud.

“Pre-season in December was pretty tough,” he told reporters. “Australia can be an example, because I was with no rhythm at all. Practised like two days with 13 days off and tried to play.

“But what changed is doing a lot of physical stuff and working hard.”

After winning the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals, Fonseca burst into the spotlight with an upset of Andrey Rublev at the 2025 Australian Open.

He said his experiences over the past year had helped shape his progress.

“The mentality also changed a lot, focusing on the points and not in the end of the match,” the world No. 30 said.

“I’m out of home since Monte-Carlo, but I think a lot of work came. Mentality improved a lot.”

Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten watched the match from the stands and Fonseca enjoyed having the support of his countryman.

“Having Guga there supporting and cheering was amazing and super nice experience today,” he added.

“It’s different. Of course my first time, but just living the moment.” AFP, REUTERS