Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought past Ben Shelton of the US in a tight four-set match to reach the French Open quarter-finals, while Iga Swiatek staged a comeback to defeat Elena Rybakina and keep her bid for a fourth straight title alive.
Reigning champion Alcaraz clinched a 7-6 (10/8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory after 3 hours, 19 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier to book a last-eight berth for a fourth consecutive year.
Alcaraz is to take on Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals, after the 12th seed saw off Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Photo: AP
“Today I fought against myself in the mind,” Alcaraz said. “In some moments I was mad, I was thinking not very good things, but I’m really happy that I didn’t let the bad thoughts play against me... I tried to calm myself down and keep going.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion saved three set points in a dramatic opening-set tiebreak before clinching it himself on his second.
He crucially then saved six break points in a marathon first game of the second set, before going on to win it courtesy of a break in the eighth game.
American 13th seed Shelton deservedly got a set on the board to extend the match, but Alcaraz quickly bounced back with an early break in the fourth set.
The second seed saw a match point come and go in the ninth game of the set, but he quickly brought up another one on his own serve and took the opportunity with a trademark forehand winner.
Lorenzo Musetti continued his rich vein of form with an impressive 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 success against Danish 10th seed Holger Rune in the night session.
The Italian eighth seed, who reached at least the semi-finals in clay-court Masters events in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome, is to face Frances Tiafoe in the last eight.
American 15th seed Tiafoe booked a place in his first-ever French Open quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win over unseeded German Daniel Altmaier.
Four-time Roland Garros champion Swiatek, who has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the title last year, was in serious trouble when trailing 2-0 to Rybakina in the second set, but the 24-year-old dug deep to clinch a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
The Pole next faces Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who knocked out last year’s losing finalist Jasmine Paolini in the last eight.
Swiatek is now on a 25-match winning streak at the French Open and boasts a remarkable 39-2 win-loss record at the tournament.
Rybakina had won both of her previous career meetings with Swiatek on clay and the Kazakh dominated the opening set, hammering 12 winners past her bewildered opponent.
“Well it was tough you know, first set I felt like I was playing against Jannik Sinner,” Swiatek said. “I needed to do something to get back in the game, but with her playing like that I didn’t feel like I had much hope.”
Rybakina broke in the first game of the second set as she threatened to run away with the match, but Swiatek impressively turned the set around with a run of five straight games.
The fifth seed was one game from defeat when trailing 5-4 in the deciding set, but she managed to end Rybakina’s resistance and held her nerve to serve out the match.
Svitolina made the quarter-finals for the fifth time with a comeback 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win over Paolini, saving three match points in a dramatic opening clash on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The former world No. 3, who has never made a Grand Slam final, will be bidding to reach a first Roland Garros semi-final.
“I still cannot believe that this match finished my way,” Svitolina said.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka needed eight match points to wrap up a 7-5, 6-3 win over Amanda Anisimova of the US.
The three-time Grand Slam champion reached her 10th successive major quarter-final, where she is to face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.
“I want to get this win after Rome, so I’m happy to face her [Zheng] in the quarters,” said Sabalenka, who lost to Zheng in the Italian Open last eight last month.
Zheng secured a quarter-final place with a hard-fought three-set victory over Russian 19th seed Liudmila Samsonova.
The Chinese eighth seed extended her winning streak at Roland Garros to 10 matches, winning 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-3.
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