One makes it to the semi-finals: tennis super talents stir up the French Open

At the French Open, the young stars are doing really well this year.

One makes it to the semi-finals: tennis super talents stir up the French Open

At the French Open, the young stars are doing really well this year. In the shadow of tennis prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune and Casper Ruud also made it into the quarter-finals. One of them will even make it to the semifinals.

The day before Super Tuesday with the tennis hits between Alexander Zverev and super talent Carlos Alcaraz as well as Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, two up-and-coming young stars caused a sensation at the French Open. 19-year-old Holger Rune from Denmark and 23-year-old Casper Ruud from Norway made it into the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in their careers at the Stade Roland Garros. One of them will even make it to the semifinals as Rune and Ruud meet on Wednesday.

Rune's victory in particular came as a surprise. The Dane won his round of 16 against the very unnerved Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 7: 5, 3: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 and thus ended the title dream of the fourth in the world rankings abruptly. Last year, Tsitsipas was in the final in Paris and lost to Djokovic after a 2-0 set lead.

"I'm so happy to be further in the tournament," said Rune after his strong performance on Court Philippe Chatrier. "I was so nervous at the end, but I made it," said the Dane, who won in Munich a month ago, beating Zverev in the process. Rune converted his first match point against Tsitsipas after 3:01 hours. Ruud built on his previous strong performances in Paris with a 6: 2, 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3 against the Pole Hubert Hurkacz. The Norwegian only slacked off a bit in the third set, but quickly recovered from it.

In the women's category, world number one Iga Swiatek reached the quarter-finals despite losing her first set. The Pole won against the Chinese Qinwen Zheng 6:7 (5:7), 6:0, 6:2 and thus celebrated her 32nd win in a row. She now meets Jessica Pegula from the USA, who beat Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 4:6, 6:2, 6:3.

The two Russians Darja Kassatkina and Veronika Kudermetowa are also in the quarterfinals. No. 20 seeded Kassatkina won 6-2, 6-2 against Italy's Camila Giorgi. Kudermetowa, listed at number 29, prevailed against the American Madison Keys 1: 6, 6: 3, 6: 1. Angelique Kerber was the last German to fail in the third round of the clay court classic.