As the fourth round of women’s matches concluded at Roland Garros, the last American in the tournament headed home as a former finalist scored a small upset.

Halep Eliminates Stephens

Fourth seed Simona Halep manipulated play and took advantage of American Sloane Stephens' serve to advance to the quarterfinals, 6-4 6-3. Halep implemented her aggressive strategy to the fullest, placing Stephens on the defensive and dominating play by working angles and massaging points.

“I think I managed very well the match. I opened the angles. I wanted to make her run a lot on court. I think I played aggressive. I dominated the match, I think,” said Halep.

While Halep did not serve at a level she would have desired, she broke the American's serve on all six opportunities, taking all but three games on Stephens' racket. An often unbalanced Stephens gave away 35 unforced errors in the match as well. On this day, she was clearly unable to dictate play or establish an aggressive role in the match. “I didn't execute my game as well as I thought I could,” Stephens said. “That's a little bit disappointing, but obviously that happens.”

In 2014, the Romanian has built upon her fast rise in 2013 by reaching the final eight for the first time in Paris and becoming one of the favorites. But the 22-year-old made it clear she was not satisfied just yet.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself,” said Halep. “Day by day, I'm playing better and better. I love the clay here and feel very comfortable. I don't want to stop in the quarterfinals. I want to go further, and I have to get ready for the next test.”

That next test will come when she faces veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova, who advanced behind a 6-3 6-4 win against Lucie Safarova on Monday.

With the exit of Stephens goes the last American in the men’s or women’s bracket in Paris. However, the youngster progressed the deepest in the draws of all singles participants from the United States.

Errani Returns to the Quarterfinals

It was a battle of top-10 seeds squaring off on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Monday. Tenth seed Sara Errani defeated sixth seed Jelena Jankovic 7-6 6-2.

In a first set that lasted over 80 minutes and featured 8 breaks of serve, Jankovic battled a thigh injury and a 5-2 deficit to even the match at 5-5. The pair fought to a tiebreak in which Errani gained an advantage, winning 7-5.

The Italian capsulized the set, “All the points were very tough. I just tried to be focused. I was 4-1 up, and then she started to play much better and it was not easy to stay there with her. Of course, it was very important to win that first set.”

In the second set, Errani rushed out to a two-break advantage and never looked back, completing the upset and advancing to the quarterfinals. It is her third consecutive quarterfinal at Roland Garros, “I’m so happy to get through to the quarterfinals here again,” she said.

Errani will advance to face Andrea Petkovic of Germany, next. The 28th seed defeated qualifier Kiki Bertens 1-6 6-2 7-5 on Monday.