French Open Day 9 - Serena vs. Sharapova Off, and Everyone's Gutted; Kasatkina Finishes Job; Schwartzmann's Stunning Fightback

It was the match everyone wanted to see. But in the end, it didn't happen.

Catherine and David come together on The Tennis Podcast to discuss a day of immense frustration at Roland Garros after Serena Williams was forced to withdraw before taking to the court against Maria Sharapova due to a right pectoral injury.

Were there warning signs from Serena’s doubles match yesterday? Should Serena have even played doubles? And when was the last time the tennis world was so disappointed because a match didn’t happen?

Fortunately, there was some tennis to talk about elsewhere as the quarter-final line-ups were confirmed. World No.1 Simona Halep was in blistering form against Elise Mertens and Angelique Kerber breezed past Caroline Garcia. Those two will meet in a mouth-watering last eight clash.

On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal pulverised Maximilian Marterer, whose pre-match chat with Catherine helped him to a flying 2-love start, and then it was all downhill. Marin Cilic just about outlasted Fabio Fognini in 5, and Diego Schwartzmann pulled off the comeback of the tournament to beat Kevin Anderson from 2-6, 1-6.

There's a preview of Alexander Zverev vs. Dominic Thiem tomorrow, and Sloane Stephens vs. Daria Kasatkina.

The Tennis Podcast is produced daily throughout the French Open, and all the Grand Slams, and weekly throughout the year. It is presented by Catherine Whitaker and David Law.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.