French Open 2017: Wawrinka storms into quarter-final

Third seed Stan Wawrinka booked a place in the quarter-finals of the French Open for the fourth time with a comfortable 7-5, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2 win over Gael Monfils yesterday. Marin Cilic completed the quarter-final line-up when South Africa's Kevin Anderson retired with a thigh injury trailing 6-3, 3-0.  It is Cilic's first Roland Garros last-eight spot while he is the first Croatian to get this far since Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic in 2006. Seven of the top seeds have made the quarter-finals with Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta playing the role of gate-crasher having knocked out fifth seed Milos Raonic on Sunday. Women's title favourite and 2014 runner-up Simona Halep trounced Spain's Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-1, 6-1 to make the last eight without dropping a set or breaking sweat. Third seed Halep, who can become the new world number one if she wins the title, claimed her first win on clay in six attempts against the Spaniard. The 25-year-old Halep will take on fifth seed fifth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a semi-final place. Svitolina reached the quarter-finals for the second time, ending the dream run of world number 290 Petra Martic with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win. However, Martic, bidding to become only the 10th qualifier to make the last eight in Paris threw away a golden chance for victory. The 26-year-old led 5-2 in the final set before Svitolina rallied to race away with the last five games. Later Monday, Czech world number two Karolina Pliskova, also in the running to become both a first time major winner and the new world number one, faces Veronica Cepede Royg in her last-16 tie. Cepede Royg, ranked 97 in the world, is only the second Paraguayan to make the fourth round of a major.