French Open Day 10 highlights: Radwanska, Halep upset

Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska lost to unseeded
Tsvetana Pironkova in the fourth round, then blasted
tournament organizers. 2015 photo by Mal Taam/
www.malt.photo

   Five highlights from Day 10 of the soggy French Open in Paris:
   1. Unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria stunned No. 2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the completion of a suspended match to reach her first French Open quarterfinal.
   Radwanska led 6-2, 3-0 when play was halted on Sunday night but had trouble controlling the heavy, waterlogged balls in the drizzle.
   Radwanska, who had surgery on the middle finger of her right (playing) hand at the end of 2009, said she "couldn't really play in that conditions, end of story."
   But Radwanska, the Wimbledon runner-up to Serena Williams in 2012, proceeded to blast tournament organizers.
   "I'm just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain," hissed Radwanska, 27, of Poland. "I mean, it's not a $10,000 tournament; it's a Grand Slam. How can you allow players to play in the rain?"
   Pironkova, 28, reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2010 and quarterfinals in 2011.
   For the first time since such records began in 1983, two women ranked below No. 100 have advanced to the French Open quarterfinals. Pironkova is No. 102, and Shelby Rogers, a 23-year-old American, is No. 108. Their career highs are No. 31 and No. 70, respectively.

Sixth-seeded Simona Halep also was irate after losing
to 21st-seeded Samantha Stosur. 2014 photo
by Paul Bauman

   2. In the completion of a suspended match between former French Open runners-up, No. 21 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia ousted No. 6 Simona Halep of Romania 7-6 (0), 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2012 U.S. Open.
   Halep, who led 5-3 when play was stopped on Sunday night, also was irate about having to play in the drizzle.
   "I have no words," she fumed. "It was impossible to play, in my opinion, and to play tennis matches in the rain I think is a bit too much. But everyone was in the same situation, and who was stronger won today."
   The 32-year-old Stosur, who won the 2011 U.S. Open, lost to Halep 6-2, 6-0 in 51 minutes three weeks ago in the Madrid semifinals.  
   3. A Serena Williams-Garbine Muguruza final looks increasingly likely. The quarterfinals in the bottom half of the draw are set: No. 4 Muguruza vs. the unseeded Rogers, and Stosur vs. Pironkova. Those matches, as well as the fourth round in the top half, are scheduled for Wednesday. The highest remaining seed in the top half after No. 1 Williams is No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky, a surprise semifinalist last year.
   Williams, 34, is 3-1 against Muguruza, 22, but in their only meeting on clay, Muguruza dominated 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the 2014 French Open.
   4. After rain wiped out play for the first time in 16 years on Monday at Roland Garros, only a handful of matches were completed today, and light rain is forecast through Friday morning. Saturday's women's final and Sunday's men's final could be pushed back a day or more.
   5. No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic leads No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 in a fourth-round match halted by rain. Djokovic, 29, is attempting to become the eighth man to earn a career Grand Slam in singles.

Northern California result

Boys singles

First round

   Patrik Rikl, Czech Republic, def. Sam Riffice, Roseville, Calif., 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.