Two days after making French Open history Roger Federer was bidding farewell to Roland Garros after being dumped out by Ernests Gulbis, who fought back from a set down to claim what he described as the biggest win of his career.
Federer reached the fourth round here for a record 12th time with his victory over Dmitry Tursunov on Friday, but the 2009 winner will be going no further after in-form Gulbis claimed a 6-7 (5/7) 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 4-6 6-3 victory on Philippe Chatrier Court.
A delighted Gulbis said in his on-court interview after the win: “It’s probably the biggest win of my career. Sorry to the crowd, I know how you all like Roger.
“It was a tough match but this is sport. I’ve been playing very well in France. I won tournaments in Marseille and Nice, hopefully Paris is the next one.
Gulbis, the 18th seed, will now face sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals after the Czech beat John Isner in straight sets.
“I have a new coach and it is working good. I hope I won over some of the fans and have a few more when I play Tomas Berdych next,” he added.
The 25-year-old Latvian, who lifted his second title of the year in Nice last month, had lost two of his previous three career meetings with 17-time grand slam winner Federer and it looked like the Swiss would notch up another triumph after winning the first set on a tie-break.
However, Gulbis fought back and levelled the scores up following another tie-break and then took a 2-1 lead after breaking Federer in the sixth and eighth games of the third set.
At that stage the upwardly-mobile Gulbis, who has risen to 17th in the world having been outside the top 100 at the start of 2013, was on course for a famous scalp and a place in the quarter-finals of a grand slam for only the second in his career, having also reached the last eight in Paris in 2008.
But Federer would not go down without a fight and he roared back in the fourth set with a double break to level the match up at 2-2 and send the clash to a decider.
Gulbis took an injury time-out towards the end of that set, but it was not enough to prevent the Latvian from going on to secure a memorable victory as he broke Federer again - the seventh time in the match - in the second game of the final set before serving out for the match.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray battled to a four-hour 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday to reach the French Open fourth round.
The British seventh seed, who next faces Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco and was a semi-finalist in 2011, had been level at 7-7 with the German 28th seed when the match was halted on Saturday night.
When the pair reappeared, Murray squandered a match point at 9-8 but wrapped up the match in the 22nd game of the decider in a clash which featured 18 breaks of serve and 123 unforced errors.
It was the longest fifth set of Murray’s career and the first time he had been taken the full distance since defeating Verdasco in last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
“Last night was tough for me as I did a lot of running, so under the circumstances we both played some good points. It was a pretty high standard,” he said.
The 30-year-old Verdasco, seeded 24th, reached the fourth round for the first time since 2010 with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s 12th seed Richard Gasquet in another third round tie held over from Saturday.
Verdasco said last year’s Wimbledon clash against Murray, where he won the first two sets, will have no bearing on Monday’s fourth round showdown.
“Every match is different. You can’t compare a match in Wimbledon when he was playing home on grass with a match here in Paris,” said Verdasco.
“And it doesn’t mean I’m going to win. Maybe he’s gonna win in three sets. All I’m saying is it’s a totally different match.”
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych made the quarter-finals for the second time with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over America’s 10th seed John Isner.
Berdych was a semi-finalist in 2010, beating Isner on the way in straight sets in the third round.
Isner was bidding to become the first American man to reach the quarter-finals in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003 but he was out-served by 28-year-old Berdych who hit 11 aces to his opponent’s seven.
“There were quick breaks in each of the sets. That’s something which really helps through all the match, especially with a guy like John. He likes to stay as close as possible, serving well. It’s a good thing to avoid playing the tiebreaks with him,” said Berdych.
Berdych will next face either fourth seed and 2009 champion Roger Federer or explosive Latvian Ernests Gulbis for a place in the semi-finals.
Federer is bidding to reach his 10th consecutive Roland Garros quarter-final.
Gulbis, who caused a stir after his third round match when he said women should concentrate on raising families rather than playing tennis, is in the last-16 for the first time since he went to the quarter-finals in 2008.
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic had no trouble blowing past French favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in a match that lasted 89 minutes and was never in doubt.
Djokovic, who needs to win the French title to complete a career grand slam, will play eighth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada for a place in the semi-finals. Djokovic led Tsonga, who was born in LeMans, 5-0 after 18 minutes.
“When I play in the grand slam events – the biggest in our sport – I am inspired to play my best tennis,” Djokovic said. “I just hope I can continue this into next week.”
In the women’s tournament, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard reached her second successive grand slam quarter-final by knocking out eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber yesterday at Roland Garros.
The 20 year old made her grand-slam breakthrough in January with a run to the semi-finals at the Australian Open and her progress in Paris has been just as impressive.
Bouchard came into the tournament after winning her first WTA title in Nuremberg, and her 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of Kerber was her ninth win in a row.
The Canadian is making her second appearance at Roland Garros after reaching the second round last year, and with Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro up next, will fancy her chances of advancing.
Kerber, who was a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2012, was the fifth player among the top eight women’s seeds to exit the tournament.
Bouchard was unfazed by her run in Melbourne and it is a similar story here.
“I feel like since the beginning of the year, I have been improving my game,” she said. “Since Australia, I’m at a different level from there. I’m confident and I really believe in my skills.
“I believe I can play with the best girls out there. She [Kerber] is top 10, so I respect her. She can play some really good tennis.
“I was really mentally prepared for anything, for a battle. I think that mindset helped me, made me realise whatever happens, I can deal with it on the court.
“I was just really going for my shots. That was my intention. It worked.”
Suarez Navarro defeated 21-year-old Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3. The 14th seed last reached the quarter-finals in Paris in 2008, and beat Bouchard in the third round of Wimbledon last year.
Seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova had little trouble with Sam Stosur, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to advance into the quarter-finals.
She will face either Pauline Parmentier or Garbine Muguruza.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE