Alcaraz advances to third straight Roland-Garros quarter-final

By Sports Desk June 02, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his third successive French Open quarter-final, after a commanding straight-sets victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard, who has dropped just a single set across his four matches so far, wrapped up a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 success in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Auger-Aliassime, appearing in round four for the second time in three years at Roland-Garros, was affected by a groin issue during the second set, but the 21st seed was no match for an inspired Alcaraz.

After the pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set, the third seed broke in game eight on the way to drawing first blood.

Alcaraz then stole the advantage in the second set when he broke to 15 in game five, and followed suit in the ninth to double his lead.

The reigning Wimbledon champion was going from strength to strength, and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, before wrapping up another dominant win that sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Data Debrief: Three in a row for Carlitos

Aged 21 years and 28 days old, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the French Open quarter-finals in three consecutive years since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008).

The Spaniard has now won each of the last 36 matches he has played at grand slams against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20.

Related items

  • Sinner guides Italy to back-to-back Davis Cup triumphs Sinner guides Italy to back-to-back Davis Cup triumphs

    Jannik Sinner capped his outstanding year by helping Italy retain the Davis Cup, beating Tallon Griekspoor to ensure Italy downed the Netherlands 2-0 in Sunday's final.

    World number one Sinner overcame Griekspoor 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 after Matteo Berrettini had registered a 6-4 6-2 win over Botic van de Zandschulp in the opener.

    Sinner saved the only two break points of the first set as Griekspoor put up a fight, but the Italian put on a show in the tie-break to inch ahead.

    Griekspoor hit back after giving up an early break in the second set, but Sinner immediately responded with two further breaks, with the Dutchman double-faulting for the first then wildly miscuing with a backhand for the second.

    Sinner was untroubled from then on, sealing a triumphant end to a spectacular season. 

    The Italian has only dropped one set throughout that streak, finishing a year that saw him win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals with a 73-6 singles record.

    Data Debrief: Sensational Sinner leads the way

    This has been a truly remarkable year for Sinner, who has become the first man in the Open Era to win at least one set in every match throughout a season since Roger Federer in 2005.

    His victory ensured Italy became the first team to retain the Davis Cup since the Czech Republic triumphed in 2012 and 2013.

    Italy also captured the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week, and they are just the third nation to claim both trophies in the same season in the last 30 years, after the Czech Republic in 2012 and Russia in 2021.

  • Jaiswal, Kohli tons put India on the verge of win against Australia Jaiswal, Kohli tons put India on the verge of win against Australia

    Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli bagged magnificent centuries to put India in a commanding position on day three of their first Test match against Australia in Perth. 

    India declared in a dominant position of 487-6 after Jaiswal (161) built on their 172-0 at stumps on day two and former captain Kohli (100 not out) added quick runs with his first century in 16 months coming up during the final hour. 

    The tourists then wreaked havoc with the ball in five overs before stumps as captain Jasprit Bumrah dismissed debutant Nathan McSweeney (zero) and Marnus Labuschagne (three) before nightwatchman Cummins (two) fell to Mohammed Siraj with the score at 12, as the hosts trail by 521 runs with seven wickets in hand. 

    Earlier in the Test, India had scored 150 batting first before bundling out Australia for 104 in the first innings. 

    Jaiswal resumed his innings at 90 on the third day and brought up his century in the first hour before KL Rahul departed for 77 after an opening-wicket partnership of 201. 

    The centurion fell as India's third wicket at 313-3 as Australia picked up three wickets in the space of eight runs, but Kohli reached his ton with help from Washington Sundar (29) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (38 not out) as India asserted their dominance. 

  • Sinner and Berrettini send defending champions Italy into Davis Cup final Sinner and Berrettini send defending champions Italy into Davis Cup final

    Jannik Sinner's victory over Alex de Minaur clinched Italy's place in another Davis Cup final, with Matteo Berrettini also victorious as the defending champions beat Australia 2-0.

    Italy won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976 last year, and they will have an opportunity to defend their crown against the Netherlands on Sunday.

    Former Wimbledon finalist Berrettini got the ball rolling with an entertaining 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 7-5 victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis, not surrendering a break after losing the opener in a tie-break. 

    That teed up Sinner to close out Italy's victory, with the world number one overcoming De Minaur 6-3 6-4, the same scoreline he beat the Australian by at the ATP Finals earlier this month.

    Speaking after his victory in Malaga, Sinner said: "It means a lot. It was a tough encounter, playing Alex. We know each other quite well now, so I have to be very careful every time.

    "It's a very tough challenge for me, so I was looking forward to this one. Obviously, it helped a lot that Matteo won the singles today. He played amazing tennis. It was very high quality. 

    "Hopefully, this can give us some confidence for [Sunday]. It's going to be a very difficult and tough day for us and also the Netherlands."

    Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Italy

    Italy's men are looking to follow in the footsteps of their female counterparts, who won the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this week.

    They are just the third nation in history to make back-to-back finals at both the Davis Cup and the Federation/Billie Jean King Cup, after the United States (1963-64, 1978-79, 1981-82 and 1990-91) and Australia (1963-64 and 1964-65).

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.