Djokovic and Alcaraz on French Open collision course as Nadal surpassed
N
ovak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz stay on a French Open collision course after each reaching the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The two highest-profile gamers within the males’s singles competitors with reigning champion Rafael Nadal absent by means of harm and second seed Daniil Medvedev already toppled are in the identical half of the draw at Roland Garros, and on monitor to satisfy in a blockbuster semi-final, offered they don’t endure any shock exits alongside the best way.
And there was no probability of any such shocks once more on Sunday, with world No1 Alcaraz blasting his well past Italian Lorenzo Musetti in straight units 6-3 6-2 6-2, following up on earlier victories over Flavio Cobolli, Taro Daniel and Denis Shapovalov through which he dropped just one set.
“I had a high quality of shots, I played really aggressive and he played a complete match from the first point to the last so I’m happy to be through to the next round,” mentioned 20-year-old sensation Alcaraz, seeking to win his second Grand Slam title having triumphed finally 12 months’s US Open.
“I try not to think about being world number one or the pressure. All these thoughts, I keep them out of my mind. I just want to enjoy myself, entertain the crowd, and smile. This is the key to everything.”
Earlier within the afternoon on Philippe-Chatrier courtroom, Djokovic had already surpassed the absent Nadal by reaching a file seventeenth French Open quarter-final.
Collision course: Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are on monitor to satisfy within the semi-finals
/ Getty Images/ReutersThe Serbian eased previous Peruvian world No94 Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2 to maintain alive his hopes of a twenty third Grand Slam singles title that might give him the outright lead over rival Nadal, with Karen Khachanov up subsequent after the latter overcame Lorenzo Sonego in a four-setter.
“I’m proud of it, but my attention is already on the next match,” Djokovic mentioned of the file, having already seen off Aleksandar Kovacevic, Marton Fucsovics and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Paris. “Obviously quarter-finals, Khachanov, I know what my goal is here. I’m trying to stay mentally the course and of course not look too far.
“Obviously the performance of today gives me a great deal of confidence about how I felt, about how I played. So I’m looking forward to the next match.”
Elsewhere on the French Open on Sunday, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina ousted girls’s ninth seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia to succeed in the quarter-finals and equal her finest efficiency so far at Roland Garros.
Karolina Muchova beat Elina Avanesyan, whereas Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bounced again from an early deficit to knock out twenty eighth seed Elise Mertens.
Men’s fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas can be in motion in opposition to Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner, whereas the night session is headlined by WTA world No2 Aryna Sabalenka going through Sloane Stephens.