Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz made another statement of intent by overcoming Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Alcaraz, 21, won 6-3 6-3 6-1 against the Canadian 21st seed on a rare rain-free day in Paris.
The reigning Wimbledon champion will face Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight.
“I’m very happy with today’s performance, I think I played tennis at a very high level,” Alcaraz said.
“I’m happy with my serve, my shots and my movement on the court.”
Tsitsipas, who is looking for his first major title, came from behind to beat world number 35 Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov defeated eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) and will face Italian second seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals on Tuesday or the Frenchman Corentin Moutet. .
Dimitrov, seeded tenth, played less than 24 hours after beating Zizou Bergs in the third round – a match that had lasted three hours and 38 minutes.
Alcaraz is aiming for his first French Open title, having already won the US Open and Wimbledon.
But his preparations were hampered by a forearm injury he sustained in the clay-court major.
He arrived in Paris with just one run to the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on clay to his name and admitted earlier in the tournament that he was still feeling pain.
After getting past Sebastian Korda in the third round, he said he felt more like himself – and he saw that when he defeated 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“I didn’t come here with much rhythm, but I believe in myself. After every training and every match I’m getting better,” added Alcaraz, who reached the semi-finals last year.
Auger-Aliassime required treatment for what appeared to be a muscle problem early in the second set and struggled with his serve for the rest of the match.
With Auger-Aliassime vulnerable, Alcaraz broke twice en route to a 5-0 lead in the third set, serving out the win shortly after Tsitsipas had done the same on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Arnaldi had stunned Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the previous round and led by a set and a break as he sought another notable scalp.
Tsitsipas, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021 final at Roland Garros, was forced to pay for failing to take one of five break points in the first set and another three in the second.
However, he showed courage to save four set points at 5-3 and 5-4 and was rewarded by finally breaking Arnaldi’s serve in the 10th game.
After winning the tie-break and breaking in the first game of the third set, Tsitsipas maintained full control and broke three more times to race away with the victory.
