Carlos Alcaraz bulldozed his way into the French Open quarter-finals for a third straight year after the twice grand slam champion thrashed 21st seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 6-1 with an entertaining display at Roland Garros.
After an exchange of breaks early in the contest, third seed Alcaraz wasted several chances to punish Auger-Aliassime’s serve but the 21-year-old finally got his reward with a sliding volley for a 5-3 lead and held his nerve to win the next game.
Last year’s semi-finalist showcased his skills at the net again to save a break point at 1-2 in the second set and got back level after a nine-minute game, before unleashing a huge backhand down the line to grab the lead in the next game.
The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime came out fighting following treatment for an injury, but Alcaraz recovered from 0-40 down to extend his lead, delighting fans with a flicked single-handed backhand winner from deep en route to a two-set advantage.
Still playing within himself after a recent arm injury, the world No. 3 raced to a 5-0 lead in the third set, closing out the match in style to book a last-eight clash with ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Greek lost the opening set but went on to defeat Italian Matteo Arnaldi 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2.
Tsitsipas keeps alive his bid to win his first grand slam title, but the 2021 Roland Garros finalist was put to the test early on by Arnaldi who had ousted sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the previous round.
Arnaldi began strongly, despite needing to save three break points in the opening game, and made the decisive break to lead 3-1 and comfortably saw out the first set, as Tsitsipas was unable to handle the Italian’s energy.
Tsitsipas looked in even more trouble in the second set when the Italian broke to lead 3-2, but Arnaldi then failed to take advantage when serving for the set. Tsitsipas broke and came out on top in the tiebreak to level the match.
The Greek took his renewed confidence into the third set and broke in the first game. Arnaldi began to struggle and Tsitsipas broke once more, and two further breaks in the fourth set put an end to the Italian’s challenge.