Cameron Norrie staged a superb comeback in difficult conditions to beat Giulio Zeppieri in the second round of the Australian Open.
A strong wind and two rain breaks, coupled with an inspired opponent, made life extremely difficult for the 19th seed but he battled to a 3-6 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-4 6-4 victory to set up a clash with 11th seed Casper Ruud.
It is the third time Norrie has recovered from two sets down to win after his Davis Cup debut against Roberto Bautista Agut in 2018 and a first-round win over Diego Schwartzman at the US Open four years ago.
Zeppieri is ranked down at 133 but was in form after coming through qualifying and crunched 63 winners in total, but Norrie did not panic and will be hugely satisfied with the result after a testing period over the second half of last season.
For the best part of two sets, Norrie was unable to cope with the power of Zeppieri, who bullied the British number one with his serve and forehand.
Both men were finding the wind tricky to cope with but Norrie began to get a foothold in the match at 5-4 in the second set, when he broke the Italian’s serve for the first time.
He was two points away from levelling the match with Zeppieri serving at 5-6 but the Italian fought back from 0-30 to force a tie-break, where he took an early lead that he did not relinquish.
Norrie, normally a cool customer, cut a deeply frustrated figure, while he was shaking out his troublesome left wrist having previously taken a medical timeout for treatment to his right knee.
The 28-year-old came out for the third set with purpose, though, and grabbed an immediate break of the Zeppieri serve before blustery showers began to blow through Melbourne Park, twice delaying the match.
In between, Norrie clinched the third set, and an immediate break at the start of the fourth set him on the way to levelling the match.
Norrie had experience on his side, with Zeppieri playing in only his third grand slam, but the 22-year-old, who had taken a lengthy medical timeout in the fourth set, began to offer more threat again in the decider.
Norrie came through a series of tight service games before a netted Zeppieri forehand gave him the break for 5-4 and the chance to serve out the contest, which he took before leaping across the court in celebration.
Alcaraz turns on the style to beat Korda at Roland Garros
Carlos Alcaraz dug deep to overcome a spirited performance from Sebastian Korda in the third round of the French Open, claiming a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win.
Korda failed to build on an early break as Alcaraz took the opener on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but he appeared to have the Spaniard on the ropes when he forced a second-set tie-break.
However, the two-time grand slam champion clinched the tie-break with a huge forehand winner and seemed to grow in stature from there, moving well and displaying too much power for his American opponent.
Alcaraz put Korda under pressure from the off in the third set and did not give up a single break point on his own serve, converting the first of two match points with a neat serve and volley.
He will face either Ben Shelton or Felix Auger-Aliassime next, with Stefanos Tsitsipas potentially lurking in the quarter-finals.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz just too good
As was the case against Jesper de Jong in round two, Alcaraz looked to be under serious pressure on Friday, only to step things up and pull away from his opponent.
He has now won 14 of his 17 singles matches at the French Open, with his win ratio of 82.4 per cent the third highest among active male players, after Rafael Nadal (96.6 per cent) and Novak Djokovic (85.3 per cent).
Swiatek celebrates birthday with routine win over Bouzkova
Iga Swiatek marked her 23rd birthday with a straight-sets victory over Marie Bouzkova at the French Open on Friday, maintaining her charge for a third successive Roland-Garros title.
Swiatek was pushed all the way by Naomi Osaka in her second-round match on Wednesday, but she enjoyed a far more serene outing on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the third round.
The world number one raced to a 6-4 6-2 win as Bouzkova struggled to match her heavy-hitting, and she could even afford to surrender one of her two breaks at the tail end of the opener.
Swiatek broke immediately at the start of the second set, setting the tone for a powerful finish to the match, her victory fittingly sealed with a thumping forehand up the line.
She will face Anastasia Potapova next up after the Russian overcame Wang Xinyu in three sets on Friday.
Data Debrief: Perfect celebration for Swiatek
Since the WTA rankings were first published in 1975, only two world number ones have won a match at Roland Garros on their birthday, Justine Henin in 2007 and Swiatek on Friday.
She is also the only player this century to reach the fourth round of the women's draw on each of her first six French Open appearances.
Sinner maintains fine form with routine Kotov win
Jannik Sinner maintained his excellent form and cruised into the fourth round of the French Open with a dominant win over Pavel Kotov on Friday.
The Australian Open champion won his third successive match without dropping a set at Roland Garros, triumphing 6-4 6-4 6-4 in just under two and a half hours on court.
Sinner – who is eyeing Novak Djokovic's place at the top of the ATP rankings – was on top from the off and forced 13 break points, moving well and forcing the issue with a series of powerful ground strokes.
Early breaks did the trick in sets one and two, and it was smooth sailing once he secured another break five games into the third, teeing up a fourth-round meeting with either Corentin Moutet or Sebastian Ofner.
Data Debrief: Sinner marches on
Sinner has now won his first 10 grand slam matches of 2024, and a deep run looks extremely likely just one year after he suffered a second-round exit in the French capital.
Since the turn of the century, he is just the third man to start a calendar year with 10 straight major wins before turning 23 years old, after Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
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