Three of the last six women’s events at Roland Garros have been won by either Muguruza or Sharapova, but it was the 2016 champion who eased to a 6-2 6-1 success on Wednesday.
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The predicted battle royal between the two former champions never materialised on a muggy Court Philippe Chatrier as Spaniard Muguruza dominated from start to finish.
Halep started slowly, spraying shots wide as she lost the first four games of the match against the number 12 seed who hit her early groundstrokes with lethal accuracy.
He, therefore, became the first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in 40 years
Claycourt specialist Thiem’s relentless accuracy from the baseline proved too much for second seed Zverev who looked jaded after a gruelling path to his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Nadal, who turned 32 on Sunday, closed out a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 win over a game Maximilian Marterer in the fourth round and will face Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the semi-finals.
Nadal, who turned 32 on Sunday, fired 39 winners as he completed the victory in two hours and 30 minutes.
Romanian Halep, twice a runner-up at Roland Garros, started slowly but once she found her groove, there was nothing the 16th seed could do to avoid a one-sided defeat.
The 36-year-old 23-time Grand Slam champion, making a comeback after maternity leave, told a news conference she had a pectoral muscle injury.
The Serbian, champion at Roland Garros in 2016, wasn’t broken by the Spanish veteran in a resounding 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.
Svitolina had been tipped as one of the potential winners for the second year in a row after winning the Italian Open, but she never found her groove on Court One.
The Bulgarian was pushed to five sets by American Jared Donaldson in the previous round.
The victory ensured that Zverev secured his first trip to the last 16 at Roland Garros.
The match, which ended 6-1 7-6(7), was between two of the biggest hitters on the WTA Tour but it failed to really catch fire on a cool Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Williams announced on her website that she’s launching her first independent clothing line “for all the ladies out there being awesome”.
French Open: Serena fights back to reach third round
A comprehensive 6-2 6-1 6-1 victory for the Spaniard set up a meeting with 27th seed Richard Gasquet.
With rain showers forecast at Roland Garros the 31-year-old wasted no time on Court Suzanne Lenglen after saving four break points in the first game against the 78th-ranked Pella.
The 36-year-old is playing her first Grand Slam tournament since giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia last September and has played only a handful of matches this year.
It was a far from easy first Grand Slam appearance back for the American, but she closed out a hard-fought win in two tight sets.