Madison Keys locked out of French Open by Russian Kudermetova

PARIS (Reuters): Madison Keys totally lost control after a brilliant opening set as she crashed out of the French Open with a 1-6 6-3 6-1 defeat by Russian Veronika Kudermetova on Monday.
The 22nd seed, who was looking to be the third American into the last eight after Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff qualified on Sunday, was powerless against her 25-year-old opponent’s heavy forehand.
Keys raced through a one-sided opening set and seemed to be heading for a comfortable win, but Kudermetova started playing more accurately and took command of the second on court Philippe Chatrier.
The Russian relied on her forehand to put Keys on the back foot and found herself serving for the set in no time. Keys saved six set points as Kudermetova showed signs of nerves. A big first serve saved her some blushes on the seventh attempt and the Russian carried the momentum into the decider.
A double break gave her a 4-1 lead in just 20 minutes and she bagged the next two games easily to wrap it up when Keys made a forehand unforced error. “I tried to trust myself, to believe. That was my key,” said the 29th seeded Kudermetova, who will face fellow Russian Daria Kasaktina in her first quarter-final appearance in the singles draw at a major. “Sometimes I tried to play harder, sometimes with the spin, a little smarter. I did a god job today.”
Nadal loses out as Djokovic French Open clash gets night session: Rafael Nadal’s French Open quarter-final against long-time rival Novak Djokovic will take place in Tuesday’s night session at Roland Garros despite the 13-time champion’s desire to play in the day.
Officials confirmed Monday that the pair’s 59th career meeting will be the late match under the lights of Court Philippe Chatrier with the day’s other quarter-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev set for the afternoon.
“I don’t like to play on clay during the night, because the humidity is higher, the ball is slower, and there can be very heavy conditions especially when it’s cold,” said Nadal last week.
“I think that makes a big difference between the way tennis is played on clay during the night and during the day.” Djokovic had hinted he would prefer to face Nadal as late as possible. “All I will say is Rafa and I would make different requests,” said the world number one and defending champion. Alcaraz said it would have been “unfair” if he was ordered to play after 9pm for the third time. Nadal and Djokovic have played one match each so far after dark.
Zverev was also dismissive of night-time conditions. “I don’t mind the evening sessions when it’s 30 degrees during the day,” said the 25-year-old. “When it’s 14 degrees, then in the night it’s going to be what, 8, 9, something like that, it gets difficult.” Organisers faced a dilemma over scheduling with host broadcaster Prime Video having the rights to the tournament’s 10 night sessions.
Officials said an agreement had been reached whereby the match — the 10th between Djokovic and Nadal at Roland Garros — would be available free to air. “The quarter-final match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal scheduled for Tuesday 31 May at 8:45 p.m. will be free to watch as unrestricted content in France across Prime Video mobile and web apps,” said a statement.
However, France’s public service broadcaster, which carries coverage of the tournament on terrestrial channels, hit out. “France Televisions regrets this decision which deprives French viewers of one of the most beautiful adverts of the tournament,” they said in a statement.