Paris (AFP) – French Open headlines and top quotes on Thursday, the 11th day of the 2018 tournament:
Headlines
+ 2016 champion Muguruza into second Paris semi-final
+ Sharapova suffers worst Slam loss in six years
+ Halep needs three sets to beat Kerber
+ Nadal drops first Paris set in three years
+ Rain then halts Rafa fightback
Who’s saying what
“I think my answer to that is I don’t take those lists very seriously.”
— Maria Sharapova on the Forbes list of top earning athletes showing not one single woman in the top 100.
“I think she made everyone wait a little bit.”
— Sharapova on Serena Williams’s decision to pull out of their last-16 match.
“Does anyone have any earplugs for these ladies matches? Why do they not grunt in practise but in matches and especially big matches it is louder than a 747.”
— Former British player Greg Rusedski @GregRusedski.
“My head won it.”
— Simona Halep on her three-set win over Angelique Kerber.
Numbers up
5 – points won on own serve in second set by Sharapova against Muguruza
99 — unforced errors in the Halep v Kerber quarter-final