Alize Cornet and Caroline Garcia, French compatriots who are barely on speaking terms following a bitter feud, will clash for a place in the quarter-finals.
Cornet reached the last-16 for the just second time with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Polish ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska who lost all her seven service games, on Saturday.
Garcia, seeded 28th, made the fourth round of a Slam for the first time with a 6-4, 4-6, 9-7 win over Taiwan’s world No 109 Su-Wei Hsieh. Those wins guaranteed the home nation at least one quarter-finalist in Paris for the first time since Marion Bartoli in 2011.
However, Cornet admitted that her relationship with Garcia has virtually broken down.
“I think that the relationship is not very good,” said 27-year-old Cornet.
“I think she may have a grudge against us, so she’s not ready to talk with me, so I don’t think that it will be good to talk to her, because we are playing against each other.
“But one day I hope that she will tell me, ‘Let’s discuss’. And I’m patient. I understand that the whole story has upset her.”
Reason for the split between the compatriots
Garcia fell out with her teammates after she severed her successful doubles relationship with Kiki Mladenovic.
She then pulled out of the Fed Cup team in April despite being nominated for the tie against Spain.
There had already been controversy over her selection as Garcia had earlier stated she did not want to play in the event at all in 2017.
When she withdrew in April, Mladenovic, Cornet and teammate Pauline Parmentier all tweeted: “LOL”, all within a minute of each other.
Garcia hit back in a newspaper interview, saying the “words were hurtful”.
On Saturday, there was no sign of a thaw in the ice-cold relationship with Cornet.
“I received a text message but no apologies,” said Garcia. “She said she was still standing behind her tweets.”
Garcia added: “I don’t want to prove anything to anybody. I have played tennis for a long time. I just play for myself, for my team. If people can enjoy my game, it’s good.”
Mladenovic, the French No 1, booked her place in the last-16 on Friday, giving the hosts three players in the fourth round for the first time in 23 years.
Simona Halep swings into the fourth round
Romanian third seed and 2014 runner-up Simona Halep sealed her place in the fourth round with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.
Halep, 25, raced through the opening set against 26th seed Kasatkina but needed to save four set points in the second before clinching victory.
Halep will face Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in the quarter-finals.
Suarez Navarro, the 21st seed and a two-time quarter-finalist, made the fourth round for the fifth time.
She eased past Russian 14th seed Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4 in a match which featured a 17-minute service game, punctuated by 11 deuces, for the Russian in the second set.
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