French Open PIX: Alcaraz, Swiatek, Tsitsipas move into quarters

Images from matches played on Day 8 of the 2024 French Open, at Roland Garros, on Sunday.

Alcaraz glides into quarter-finals

Carlos Alcaraz charged 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 on Sunday.

The near-flawless win earned Alcaraz a meeting with ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in what will be a blockbuster rematch of their 2023 encounter at this stage, and he will look to extend his 5-0 overall advantage over the Greek player.

"I think I played a high level of tennis. Really focused. No ups and downs. I'm happy with everything. My serve, my shots, my movement on the court," Alcaraz said after drawing level with Auger-Aliassime in what has been a close rivalry.

"I know Felix is a great player. He's played great tennis. The head-to-head was 3-2 for him. I was looking forward to being equal to him. We both showed great tennis today."

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 that hampered his tune-up to the Grand Slam, the world number three raced to a 5-0 lead in the third set, closing out the match in style to draw huge cheers.

"I think the most important thing is for me to believe in myself. It doesn't matter if I don't have too many matches on my back or that I didn't come with a lot of rhythm," Alcaraz said.

"I just believe in myself with my team. We put in really good work every day before coming here and every day here. After every practice and every match I was getting better and better.

"Here on Court Philippe Chatrier it's easy to play... the history this court and this tournament has, it's better to play and get to 100%."

He said he was relishing his next match with former Roland Garros runner-up Tsitsipas.

"I love these kinds of matches," he added.

"I've seen a lot of matches lately from Stefanos. I know he's playing great tennis and has a lot of confidence right now. I have the key against him. I'll try to play the shots that get him in trouble. I'll try to show my best.

"Hopefully the crowd enjoys (it) as much as I'm going to. Let's see how it's going to be."

Swiatek makes short work of Potapova 

World number one Iga Swiatek moved into the quarter-finals of the French Open with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Russia's Anastasia Potapova in 40 minutes on Sunday.

Potapova was playing in the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, but Swiatek took full control of the play and gave the Russian no time to breathe between a flurry of points.

Potapova attacked Swiatek's serve on the odd occasion to claim a couple of winners, but the Pole's near-perfect shots left the Russian with no answers as the top seed wrapped up the first set in 19 minutes.

The crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier tried their best to encourage Potapova but Swiatek looked at ease, forcing the Russian into several mistakes as the top seed consolidated her early break.

The only problem Swiatek had was the swirling wind on serve, with the roof finally left open after several days of rain.

Swiatek eventually put Potapova out of her misery, and the Russian made a hasty exit form the court. Swiatek will face either fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova or Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic in the quarter-finals.

Jabeur ends Tauson's run to reach last 8

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur slid into the French Open quarter-finals for the second time when she earned a hard-fought 6-4 6-4 victory over Denmark's Clara Tauson on Sunday, celebrating by having a singalong with her fans.

World number nine Jabeur broke the 72nd-ranked Tauson's service in a tight third game and nearly dropped her own right afterwards in a marathon 26-point game but held firm and went on to clinch the first set.

With a superb passing shot, the 29-year-old Tunisian immediately took the lead in the second set but could not hold it and had to wait until the fifth game to break again as Tauson hit two mistimed unforced errors.

Tauson, who defeated 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round and former runner-up Sofia Kenin in the third, nearly drew level in the 10th game but Jabeur kept the upper hand to wrap up victory in little over an hour and a half.

Jabeur waved her arms and bounced up and down while singing along with fans during her post-match interview on court, later saying that the song was a mix of Arabic, French and Italian that she loosely translated as "it's incredible, step by step to the final".

Jabeur, targeting a first Grand Slam title after finishing runner-up twice at Wimbledon and at the U.S Open last year, will face world number three Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals.

"It's going to be difficult. She's such a fighter," Jabeur said of the American. "I know I can bother her also but it's going to be a great match."

Tsitsipas fights back to down Arnaldi, make quarter-finals

Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas lost the opening set but went on to defeat Italian Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 in the fourth round of the French Open on Sunday.

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.

"It was one of the craziest comebacks I've had, the momentum seemed to be going his way the entire match," Tsitsipas said.

"It was very frustrating on my end, because I felt like I was trying my best, trying to make him move, nothing really seemed like it was working."

Arnaldi began strongly, despite needing to save three break points in the opening game. He 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 at 5-4 up. Tsitsipas broke and came out on top in the tiebreak to level the match.

"I think experience was the reason I managed to come back today, even at 5-3 in the second set I felt like I can come back," Tsitsipas said.

"I felt like there was power within me to turn this match around and I think that game at 5-4 when I broke him was the biggest pleasure I've experienced in tennis in a long time because I felt there is a chance."

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.

"He's one of the biggest fighters I have played in tennis and he deserves a lot of credit because he was pushing me to the limits and one of the strongest opponents I have had on the clay court season so far," the relieved winner said.

"I really think we are going to see a lot of things from him in the future because there are players at certain moments that are a little more fragile but he seemed very composed and very strong in those crucial moments."

Tsitsipas will face Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz next, a repeat of last year's quarter-final which the Greek lost.

Alcaraz has won all five of their previous meetings.

"He said in the past that he likes playing against me, so I hope he gets to like it a little bit less the next time," Tsitsipas said with a smile.

Gauff cruises past Cocciaretto to quarter-finals

American world number three Coco Gauff was far too strong for Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto at the French Open on Sunday, sealing a 6-1 6-2 win to reach the quarter-finals.

The match began at a frenetic pace, with the 45th-ranked Cocciaretto winning only two points in the first four games on unforced errors by Gauff, who won the U.S. Open last year after losing the 2022 final in Paris.

Cocciaretto regained some confidence at the end of the first set with longer rallies and a few winning shots but Gauff kept the upper hand, losing only one game to her 23-year-old opponent.

Gauff, who landed only 56% of her first serves, suffered a small slump early in the second set, losing her first service game and allowing the Italian to respond.

Cocciaretto managed to win one of her service games but that was not enough to beat Gauff who finished the match in exactly one hour.

In the quarter-final, Gauff, who is bidding to become the first American to win Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2015, will face the winner of the match between Tunisia's Ons Jabeur and Dane Clara Tauson.