French Open, day 9 women’s roundup: Halep through, Wozniacki bows out and Serena withdraws

World number one Simona Halep, the runner-up in 2014 and 2017, routed Belgian 16th seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1 to reach the French Open quarter-finals for the third time on Monday.

Top seed Halep will take on either German 12th seed Angelique Kerber or Caroline Garcia, the seventh-seeded Frenchwoman who made the last-eight in 2017.

Halep won in 59 minutes with the second set taking just 22 minutes.

The Romanian broke serve six times against a player who made the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January.

Kerber advances

German 12th seed Angelique Kerber reached the French Open quarter-finals for the second time on Monday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Caroline Garcia.

Kerber, a former world number one and two-time major winner, will face top seed Simona Halep for a place in the semi-finals.

Kerber, who also made the last eight in 2012, had lost in the first round in Paris in the last two years.

Kasatkina downs Wozniacki

Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina stunned world number two and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros on Monday.

Kasatkina raced away with the last three games of the tie which had been halted at 3-3 in the second set late Sunday because of bad light.

Kasatkina will face US Open winner Sloane Stephens for a place in the semi-finals.

Serena pulls out

Serena Williams announced her shock withdrawal from the French Open on Monday with injury just minutes before her scheduled fourth-round clash against long-time rival Maria Sharapova.

The 36-year-old said she had suffered a pectoral muscle injury in her third-round win over Julia Goerges and “can’t serve at all”.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion added that she would stay in Paris for scans on the injury to find out how long she will be out of action.

She was unable to say whether or not she would be fit for Wimbledon which gets underway in four weeks’ time.

Muguruza through

Former champion Garbine Muguruza made the French Open quarter-finals on Monday when opponent Lesia Tsurenko quit after just two games with a leg injury.

Third seed Muguruza, the 2016 champion, was only on court for 20 minutes.

Tsurenko also needed a medical time-out off court after just the first game.

Muguruza plays two-time champion Maria Sharapova for a place in the semi-finals.