PARIS, France - Marketa Vondrousova continued to set the standard for Roland Garros 2019's trio of teenage breakthroughs, overwhelming No.12 seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-0 to make her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal in just 59 minutes.
The 19-year-old - one of three teenagers who have reached the second week in Paris, along with 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova and 18-year-old Iga Swiatek - has now reached at least the quarterfinals at every tournament she has played since February, notching up finals in Budapest and Istanbul and quarterfinals in Indian Wells, Miami and Rome.
Your first quarter-finalist, Marketa
Vondrousova 👏
The Czech blazes through Anastasija Sevastova 6-2 6-0 in 59 minutes.
🎾 https://t.co/EbUXJ9de33#RG19 pic.twitter.com/EcNd55syfp— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2019
Playing the fourth round of a major for the second time, having debuted at this stage at last year's US Open, Vondrousova was poised and controlled in every aspect of the game, striking 19 winners and excelling in particular with a series of delectable dropshots that reliably landed inches from the net. Sevastova, by contrast, was beset by mistakes, particularly off the backhand side, and could rarely execute finishing shots when in charge of rallies; the Latvian even lacked her customary touch on her trademark dropshot, sending most attempts wide or into the net, and ultimately racked up 24 unforced errors.
Sevastova, whose three-hour, 20-minute third-round win over No.20 seed Elise Mertens had been the longest Grand Slam match of 2019, the second-longest overall, and arguably the finest quality contest of the tournament, seemed flat from the outset, double faulting to give the 2015 girls' doubles champion an immediate break point and conceding it with an errant backhand.
Marketa Vondrousova sur sa lancée 🚀🇨🇿
La jeune Tchèque, qui totalise le plus de victoires sur le circuit depuis l'Australian Open, s'impose en 59 minutes face à Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 6-0. Elle est la première qualifiée pour les 1/4 de finale.#RG19 pic.twitter.com/xwiHwWqYRn— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2019
The US Open semifinalist was able to get a toehold in the match after Vondrousova took a medical timeout to patch up a grazed knee, with her dropshot radar working enough to break the Czech back - but this stretch of form was all too brief. Vondrousova, dictating with her topspin-laden forehand and showing off her variety both in constructing points and in improvising with counterdrops and sharp volleys when dragged into the forecourt, would only face one more game point in the match.
Sevastova, whose only further chance to make an impact on the scoreboard was squandered with yet another netted backhand as she was broken in the second game of the second set, rarely seemed as though she would find a solution - either to her own inability to find anything like her best form, or to Vondrousova's all-court mastery.
Up next for the teenager in the quarterfinals will be either No.31 seed Petra Martic, in what would be a rematch of the Istanbul final, which the Croat won 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, or Kaia Kanepi.