By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) – Defending champion Iga Swiatek led the way as fancied players at the French Open progressed to the quarter-finals in double quick time on Sunday after Novak Djokovic had sealed an epic victory in a match that ended in the early hours.
With Roland Garros still abuzz after that marathon in the claycourt Grand Slam’s latest ever finish at just after three a.m. local time, top seed Swiatek produced a different kind of masterclass to beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 in 40 minutes.
American Coco Gauff was not as ruthless as her Polish rival but equally efficient as she powered past Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1 6-2 in an hour before Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova mowed down Serbian Olga Danilovic 6-4 6-2.
Ons Jabeur continued her quest to win an elusive maiden Grand Slam by taking out Danish giant-killer Clara Tauson 6-4 6-4.
It was largely one-way traffic on the men’s side too, as third seed Carlos Alcaraz thumped Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 6-1 to set up a rematch of his 2023 quarter-final with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-2.
“I love these kinds of matches,” Alcaraz said.
“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.”
Alcaraz’s entertaining victory meant the entire day session for singles on Court Philippe Chatrier was completed in exactly four hours, 29 minutes less than Djokovic needed to defeat Italian Lorenzo Musetti overnight.
The late finish came under criticism as Swiatek and Gauff said that Grand Slams needed to rethink their scheduling.
“I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier,” Swiatek told reporters.
“I don’t know if the fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day when the matches are finishing at two or three a.m.”
Organisers were forced to add an extra match before Djokovic played due to persistent rain this week, which added to the long night on Saturday.
“It’s a complicated thing but I think for the health and safety of the players it would be in the sport’s best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing — or starting — after a certain time,” Gauff said.
Italian second seed Jannik Sinner would have leapfrogged Djokovic to become world number one in a week’s time if the Serbian had crashed out.
The Italian will continue his quest for a second major when he takes on French favourite Corentin Moutet on Sunday evening.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; editing by Clare Fallon)
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