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Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the fourth round of the French Open for the sixth consecutive year on Friday with an easy win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-3 6-1.
The 2021 finalist sent out more than 30 winners and finished the match in just 91 minutes, facing Italian player Matteo Arnaldi, Who was shocked? Sixth seed Andrey Rublev said earlier Friday.
Zhang Chengcheng first Last year, he became the first Chinese player in 86 years to win the French Open and advance to the third round, but his performance has been unable to improve as he has been unable to create break chances.
“I’m very happy to see myself being here and playing so effectively and so accurately at the same time,” Tsitsipas said, listing it as one of his best performances on clay.
“I felt like my shots were pretty accurate. No matter where I aimed, I was able to hit some really high-quality shots.”
The ninth-ranked Tsitsipas started strongly, winning the first three games and maintaining the momentum, breaking Zhang Chunjun on his second try in the first game of the second set.
Tsitsipas played flawless tennis, making just three unforced errors in the second set, and broke Zhang again in the ninth game.
Zhang Chunjun had problems with his forehand in the late game and hit the ball out of bounds twice in a row, allowing Tsitsipas to get a break chance in the fourth game of the third set, and the Greek took the initiative from then on.
Tsitsipas, who won his third Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo last month, said he needed to be careful with his next opponent, Arnaldi.
“I’ve been following him. I know exactly what kind of player he is,” he told reporters.
“He’s a very good fighter. When he fights, he fights hard and doesn’t give up. That’s what I expect.”
Swiatek and Sinner win easily, but Rublev loses after emotional breakdown
Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner kept their cool and eased into the fourth round of the French Open on another wet day at Roland Garros on Friday, but the red mist descended on Andrey Rublev, who raged and roared and ultimately became the highest-seeded men’s player to be eliminated.
Three-time Polish champion Irina Swiatek celebrated her 23rd birthday at the Philippe Chatrier Court and there was no better venue for the top seed to give herself the perfect birthday present by defeating Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-4 6-2.
The Australian Open champion beat Russian Pavel Kotov 6-4 6-4 6-4, while third seed Coco Gauff and eighth seed Ons Jabeur also won easily, with Sinner receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.
As clouds gathered over Roland Garros for the sixth straight day of competition, the crowd at the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium sensed a storm brewing inside Rublev, with the sixth seed letting his emotions get the better of him as he lost 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4 to Matteo Arnaldi.
As the match began to lose suspense, Rublev yelled at himself, then threw his racket to the ground, hit his legs with it and kicked the bench on the sidelines.
The scenes brought back memories of the time he was hit in the leg by a racket at the 2023 ATP Finals, and the time he was disqualified for shouting at the linesman in Dubai two months ago.
The 26-year-old’s talents were highlighted at the Madrid Masters, where he has reached the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments 10 times, raising hopes of a maiden major title, but this was a huge disappointment for him.
Rublev said regretfully: “I am very disappointed with my behavior and performance. I don’t remember performing worse than this in a Grand Slam tournament.”
“I think this is the first time I’ve behaved so badly.”
Italian face
Arnaldi’s fellow Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto also proved to be a thorn in her favoured opponent’s side, defeating 17th seed Lyudmila Samsonova 7-6(4) 6-2.
“As Italians, we are born on clay courts. It’s different from other players, the Chinese and American players, they are born on hard courts,” Cocciaretto said.
“For us, this is not a comfort zone, this is our surface.”
Jaber was another player who was able to work her magic on Parisian soil, with the Tunisian player defeating Canadian Leila Fernandez 6-4 7-6(5) to continue her latest quest to become the first Arab and African woman to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Third seed Gauff showed some courage in the second set, defeating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-4, while her fellow American and former runner-up Sofia Konin lost to Denmark’s Clara Tausen 6-2 7-5.
Czech player Marketa Vondrousova overcame the challenge of Chloe Paquet 6-1 6-3 after a thrilling win in the previous round, while her fellow Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will face American Sebastian Korda later in the men’s draw.
Korda hopes to emulate his father, Peter, who reached the 1992 French Open final.
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