The door’s open; can Roger Federer go through?

TODAY’S FEATURED MATCHES

(world rankings in parentheses)

Serena Williams (2) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (7), Russia

It’s a glamorous quarterfinal between women who share a sense of humor and text each other regularly, according to Kuznetsova. If they also texted each other during changeovers, that might be unusually interesting.

Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, vs. Gael Monfils (10), France

For this quarterfinal reprise of last year’s fine semifinal, the forecast calls for luminous sunshine and deafening commotion because French crowds adore both the elegant Federer and the compelling Monfils. Plus the occasional sip in the daytime.

Juan Martin Del Potro (5), Argentina, vs. Tommy Robredo (17), Spain

Robredo would be the lone Spaniard in the French Open men’s quarterfinals. That might be one of the strangest sentences ever.

Samantha Stosur (32), Australia, vs. Sorana Cirstea (41), Romania

Stosur’s previous opponent, Virginie Razzano, claims Stosur has the best serve on the tour. Maybe Williams can text Razzano and tell her it’s not true.

A FRENCH MORSEL

It’s still almost impossible to believe Rafael Nadal is out, or that he won’t appear out of some unseen portion of the draw. But his presence remains in the comments of his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, to the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. After the crowd on Sunday roared for underdog Robin Soderling, and the No. 1 player expressed a bit of sadness at “such a beautiful tournament for me,” Uncle Toni said, “They say it themselves and it’s true, the Parisian crowd is pretty stupid. I think the French don’t like it when a Spaniard wins. Wanting someone to lose is a slightly conceited way of amusing yourself. They show the stupidity of people who think themselves superior.” Wow, see you next year!

ALSO TUESDAY IN PARIS

The heady runs to the quarterfinals of former No. 1 Maria Sharapova (returning from injury) and current No. 3 Andy Murray (not a clay-court specialist) ended. Sharapova felt “five steps slower” and sprayed 27 errors around Court Suzanne Lenglen as she lost to 19th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 6-0, 6-2, the worst loss of her 110-match Grand Slam career. “You know, if it’s 7-6 in the third and you come out with a loss, I mean, what’s the difference, you know?” she said. Murray looked out of sorts and fell, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4, to 12th-ranked Fernando Gonzalez, the first Chilean in the French Open semifinals. . . . In a match featuring a second set of an especially lofty quality, No. 1 Dinara Safina withstood her first struggle of the tournament and surpassed Victoria Azarenka, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

ENDANGERED AMERICAN MALES

From the original nine entries, the number in the singles draw remains zero, unchanged from Tuesday morning’s number of zero. Yet if you’re a country that can’t cover clay courts particularly well, there’s an elixir: doubles. Well, look here: The gritty, glorious doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan, the 2003 champions, advanced to the semifinals Tuesday by toughing it through Robredo and Marc Lopez of Spain, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 7-6 (2). Doubles rules. Doubles is the best. We love our doubles.

STAT OF THE DAY

38-1: Roger Federer’s lifetime record against the five men remaining in the French Open draw as of Wednesday morning. The lone loss came to Gonzalez at the Tennis Masters Cup in China in 2007.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Soderling, on the voluminous text -- or SMS -- messages he has received since his shocking victory Sunday over Nadal: “The funny thing is, I got a lot of SMS from people I don’t even know.”

-- Chuck Culpepper