Andrey Rublev reaches French Open quarter-finals after Jannik Sinner retires with knee injury

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 30/05/2022 at 19:29 GMT

Andrey Rublev advanced to the quarter-finals of the French Open for the second time after Jannik Sinner retired from their match in the third set due to a knee issue. Rublev will next face either fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev or Marin Cilic, with Casper Ruud or Holger Rune awaiting in the semi-finals. Rune upset Stefanos Tsitsipas to secure the shock of the tournament so far on the men's side.

Andrey Rublev made the quarter-finals of the French Open after Jannik Sinner retired with injury in the third set of their fourth-round clash.

Rublev was leading 1-6 6-4 2-0 when the Italian ended the match due to a knee problem.

Rublev, who had never made it past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, will next face either second seed Daniil Medvedev or Marin Cilic.

ATP Rome

Are Nadal, Alcaraz, Djokovic playing Italian Open? When does it start?

an hour ago

The winner will play either Casper Ruud or Holger Rune, who upset fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets.

Asked about his injury afterwards, Sinner said: "I felt good or quite OK the first set.

• Rune shocks Tsitsipas to make quarter-finals
• Tearful Tsitsipas reacts to Rune loss

"And then after, in 2-1 when I was serving, I felt a big, I don't know how you call it...something. And from that point I felt it too much. And then I was hoping that it's going to go away, but it didn't.

"So playing like this was, unfortunately, not the right thing to do. And, yeah, let's see what, we'll test tomorrow and the next day, so let's see."

Sinner had won the previous two meetings against Rublev, including in Monte Carlo earlier this year, and raced through the opening set in just 29 minutes.

The Italian converted both break-point chances and took advantage of 11 unforced errors from Rublev.

But Sinner was then hampered by a knee issue during the second set and called for a medical time out. Neither played faced a break point until the 10th game when Rublev managed to break and win the set.

However, after being broken early in the third set Sinner pulled the plug due to the knee issue.

'Such a shame' - Sinner suffers injury heartbreak as Rublev progresses early

It is the second time this season Sinner has retired during a match, while he also pulled out of his Indian Wells last-16 clash with Nick Kyrgios due to illness.

Ruud beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

“It feels great," said the eighth seed. "It’s been one of the goals for me this year, to try and reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam.

“I don’t know why, but suddenly when I came here this year I felt a little bit more experienced playing five sets. I wasn’t able to play in Australia so Roland Garros was a big goal for me, especially this year.”

--

Stream the 2022 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+

ATP Madrid

Sinner withdraws from Madrid Open as hip injury sparks French Open fitness race

Yesterday at 18:55

ATP Madrid

Rublev stuns Alcaraz in huge Madrid Open upset after thrilling fightback, Fritz progresses

Yesterday at 22:56

Roland-Garros

Not Djokovic, Alcaraz or Sinner - Norrie picks his favourite for French Open glory

30/04/2024 at 21:07