Canadian Eugene Bouchard stunned eighth seed Angelique Kerber, while Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych overpowered 10th seed American John Isner to cruise into the quarterfinals of the French Open on Sunday.
Bouchard put on a fine display against Kerber and beat the German 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes at the Court Philippe Chatrier. The 18th seed Canadian also tied her head-to-head record against Kerber at one match apiece.
The 20-year-old from Westmount was at her dazzling best as she racked up 30 winners, while committing just 11 unforced errors. She hit returns on both sides of the court and unleashed massive backhands, forehands and volleys against Kerber.
"Today my goal of taking it early worked really well - I was really going for my shots," Bouchard said. "I felt good out there. I think I executed my game plan really well, so I'm happy with that."
"I mean, I'm confident. I really believe in my skills. I believe I can play with the best girls out there. She's Top 10, so I respect her, and she can play some really good tennis, so I was really mentally prepared for anything, for a battle. I think that kind of mindset really helped me today."
Meanwhile, in another pre-quarterfinal clash, Berdych got the better of Isner as he took just one hour and 51 minutes to register a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory and move through to the last eight, where he will either face Roger Federer or Ernests Gulbis.
The sixth seed Czech fired 11 aces, 36 winners and committed just 13 unforced errors to register his fifth win over Isner in seven clashes. Berdych said he did well by avoiding tiebreakers against Isner, and getting early breaks helped him in finishing the match early.
"There were quick breaks in each of the sets," said Berdych. "That's something that really helped through all the match, especially against a guy like John. He likes to stay as close as possible, serving well. I think it's a good thing to avoid playing tie-breaks with him. So that was one of my plans in the beginning, and I'm really glad that it was working pretty good."
Meanwhile, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco has won his third round encounter against Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the first time since 2010. Verdasco took two hours to complete a straight-set victory over the 12th seed Frenchman.
Verdasco will now face Andy Murray, who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber, in the pre-quarterfinal. Murray defeated Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 in a hard-fought encounter to move into the fourth round.
