French Open: Days 8 and 9

In the Women’s draw Francesca Shiavone recovered from a mid-match stutter to beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3 2-6 6-4, but third seed Vera Zvonareva fell to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 2-6 6-2.

Match of the Round

Has to be Andy Murray’s five set marathon against Victor Troicki, in which the Brit triumphed 4-6 4-6 6-2 6-2 7-5. Murray had to battle from two sets down, but showed tremendous determination to stay calm and bring in the big shots which mattered most. Something which has become clear this season is that when Murray’s first serve percentage is high, he wins. In the first two sets his serving was inconsistent and out of character, but in the third set he brought his game up, and broke twice to take the set 6-2. From that point the momentum changed, and Troicki, who has never won a five-set match against a top ten player couldn’t keep up with Murray, who has a formidable five-set record, despite his injury.

Shock of the round

Vera Zvonareva, third seed, lost out to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, meaning that for the first time in the post-1968 modern era, the top three seeds will not be present in the quarter finals.

Match to watch

Rafael Nadal takes on Roger Soderling, the world number five, for a place in the last four. Soderling made the final of the French Open in 2008, losing a spirited match to Roger Federer, and and has since cemented himself in the top ten of world tennis. He is well known for his reading of the game, but does he have what it takes to beat the King of Clay?

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