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Petra Martic pulled off the biggest upset of the French Open so far by knocking out second seed Karolina Pliskova – and the Croatian is not planning on stopping there.
Pliskova arrived in Paris after winning the biggest clay-court title of her
career in Rome but it is not her best surface and the 6-3 6-3 defeat was not a
total shock given the calibre of her opponent.
Martic has had more clay-court wins than any other woman this season, winning a title in Istanbul and reaching the semi-finals in Charleston, and she used her nous to reach the fourth round here for the third time.
No.2 seed gone!
What else has happened at Roland-Garros today 👉 https://t.co/9dHXWQMbj4#RG19 pic.twitter.com/ibCkgnjvzZ
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2019
The 28-year-old has never been further at a grand slam, and was not getting carried away by her victory over Pliskova.
She said of the win: “For sure it was one of the bigger ones. But I have bigger goals than that, and I hope I can just continue this way.”
Martic feared her career was over when she was sidelined with a back injury in 2016 and 2017 but she has hit a career-high ranking of 28 this season, and she could go higher with a good run here.
Martic finds herself in a wide open section of the draw, with one of the Croatian, Kaia Kanepi, Anastasija Sevastova and Marketa Vondrousova guaranteed to make the semi-finals.
Teenage Czech Vondrousova has had a superb season and she reached the fourth round at a slam for only the second time by beating 28th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4 6-4.
Twelfth seed Sevastova, meanwhile, won one of the matches of the tournament so far by saving five match points on the way to a 6-7 (3) 6-4 11-9 victory over Belgian Elise Mertens.
Former champion Garbine Muguruza reached the fourth round for the sixth successive year with a 6-3 6-3 victory over ninth seed Elina Svitolina.
Muguruza, who won the title here in 2016, has a remarkable ability to find her best form at the grand slams and, after making the semi-finals last year, is again on a good run.
Anastasija Sevastova slides into the Round of 16 for the first time at @rolandgarros!
She saves 5️⃣ match points en route to a 6-7(3), 6-4, 11-9 victory over Mertens–> https://t.co/KDUZScjPuW pic.twitter.com/pse3MRlYEU
— WTA (@WTA) May 31, 2019
“I feel very good in this tournament,” said the Spaniard. “I have always loved it since I was a little girl. I also love the clay court. I don’t know what it is about the French Open that gives me always a nice mood and my tennis develops much better.”
Last year’s runner-up, Sloane Stephens, was pushed all the way by Slovenia’s Polona Hercog but survived, winning 6-3 5-7 6-4.
The seventh seed served for the match in the second set and missed four match points. Hercog then recovered from 4-0 down to make the deciding set tight but Stephens held on to set up an enticing clash with Muguruza on Sunday.
