Day 8: Ivanovic, Nishikori, Tsonga advance as rain cuts play short

Kei Nishikori makes another milestone, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga edges Tomas Berdych, Gael Monfils vs. Roger Federer match suspended and more from a rainy Sunday at the French Open.

Courtney Nguyen | May 31, 2015

Day 8: Ivanovic, Nishikori, Tsonga advance as rain cuts play short /

PARIS – Catch up on the news and results from a rainy Sunday on Day 8 at the French Open in Paris.

Rain pushes two women's fourth rounders into Monday: The Maria Sharapova–Lucie Safarova and Flavia Pennetta–Garbine Muguruza matches were cancelled on Sunday after a significant rain delay earlier in the day meant the last matches scheduled on Courts Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen would be pushed to Monday. That creates a tough turnaround for the winner of both matches. They both play first on Monday and then the winners will face off on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.

Roger Federer and Gael Monfils split sets before match is suspended: It will be a best of three set shootout on Monday after Federer and Monfils split the first two sets of their highly-anticipated fourth round showdown. Federer took the first set 6–3 and Monfils rallied right back to take the second set 6–4. Here's his backhand winner to seal the set:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/605081594425020416]

The match was then suspended around 8:30 p.m. because of the fading light and impending showers. How can you not love Monfils' smile and shake here:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/605082185196912641]

Another milestone for Kei Nishikori: By romping to a 6–3, 6–4, 6–2 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili, Nishikori became just the second man in history to make the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (and the first in the Open Era). He has to like his chances of going even further. He'll face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and he's won four of their five previous matches.

Here's a funny moment from the match, wherein Nishikori completely forgets the score:

It's not time for a changeover just yet, @keinishikori! #RG15 https://t.co/x1IV0dCMvj
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2015

Tsonga snaps Tomas' Berdych's quarterfinal streak: It definitely wasn't the same Berdych as we've seen over the course of the season, but No. 14 seed Tsonga overcame a slight wobble in the third set to hand Berdych his first loss before the quarterfinal stage of a tournament in 2015, winning 6–3, 6–2, 6–7, 6–3 to advance to the quarterfinals in Paris for the third time in his career.

WATCH: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's (@tsonga7) paints the #Chatrier lines with this zinger. Is it the Shot of the Day? #RG15 https://t.co/cev58Utttt
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2015

Jack Sock becomes youngest U.S. man into French Open R4 since '93

Ana Ivanovic turns back the clock: Not since 2008—the year she broke through to win the French Open—has the smiling Serb made the quarterfinals in Paris. But the No. 7 seed has now played two quality matches in a row to book her spot in the next round, beating No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova 7–5, 3–6, 6–1 in the fourth round on Sunday. "To be honest, coming into the tournament I didn't really expect that at all. But I really worked hard for each match. I worked hard even before the tournament to reach the quarterfinal again here. It feels amazing," she said.

Elina Svitolina overcomes Alize Cornet's dramatics to make her first Slam quarterfinal: The Frenchwoman pulled out all the stops in a 79 minute second set, but Svitolina, a talented 20-year-old from Ukraine, kept her focus to close out a 6–2, 7–6 (9) win and earn a quarterfinal matchup vs. Ivanovic. Ranked at No. 21 and seeded No. 19 in the tournament, Svitolina may not make headlines like Sloane Stephens, Eugenie Bouchard or Belinda Bencic, but she has steadily improved with every year and it's finally paid off for her on a big stage.

Shot of the day: Lukas Kubot goes behind the back and the Bryans bow down in his honor:

DOUBLES: What did #Kubot/#Chardy do that left @Bryanbros bowing in awe? (Tip: Don't blink or you'll miss it!) #RG15 https://t.co/isUDBPew2k
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2015

Quote of the day: Ajde?

Q. You mentioned emotions on court. You were perhaps even more emotional than normal today. You were really intense at times. Is that because it means more at this stage of your career when you get these chances?
ANA IVANOVIC: I think it's because I'm Serbian.

Crowd reaction of the day: Only in Paris will you see the Mexican Wave done with umbrellas. Maybe they were just trying to keep warm?

We Love It: Rain won't get in the way of the crowd doing the wave! @tsonga7 @tomasberdych #ola #parapluie #RG15 https://t.co/qS3CppZy6x
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2015

SNAPSHOTS FROM DAY 8

French Open Day 8

Ana Ivanovic

Alize Cornet

Alize Cornet

Alize Cornet

Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic

Elina Svitolina

Bastian Schweinsteiger (C)

Kei Nishikori

Tomas Berdych

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Kei Nishikori

Alize Cornet

Published May 31, 2015

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.