The array of shots and maturity the 22-year-old deployed in an intensely fought 6-3, 6-4 win against 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova strengthened the argument that Muguruza could soon be challenging Serena Williams for the top spot in women’s tennis.
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Unseeded American Shelby Rogers also advanced, ousting Romania’s number 25 seed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-4.
Ramos-Vinolas’ win ensures at least one Spaniard will play in the men’s quarter-finals at Roland-Garros for the 20th year running.
With nine-times champion Nadal rocking the tournament on Friday when he pulled out with a wrist injury, the onus has fallen on some of his less-celebrated countrymen to carry the flag.
“I had lost four times in a row here so I am very happy”, said the shock victor who had also won just four matches in his entire career at the majors before coming to Paris.
The fourth-seeded Spanish player needed five match points in the final game to finish off the 13th-seeded Russian.
“It was a great day”. “After losing last week 6-1 6-1 against Wawrinka (in Geneva), I was a little bit down”.
Raonic will now turn his focus to the grass-court season, having added John McEnroe to his coaching team ahead of Wimbledon.
He was a break to the good at 2-0 in the second but Ramos-Vinolas roared back to claim a two-sets lead.
This is the second occasion on which Ramos has defeated one of the top 10 professionals – he defeated Swiss maestro Roger Federer in the Shanghai Open previous year. This time, Troicki was the one who get the early lead, reaching 3 set points at 6-3 but he will need 5 set points in total to close the set by 9-7, annulling the Wawrinka’s advantage after an nearly 2 hours of play.
Muguruza said of veteran Kuznetsova: “At the end it is always very tough”.
“Quarter-finals is a great run and I am looking forward to improving my result here”.
Next for Rogers is a match against No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up.
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Play has resumed at the French Open after a rain delay of about an hour.
