French Open 2025 Men’s Day 8

Carlos Alcaraz stepped up the tempo of his French Open title defence on Sunday as the second seed dismissed Ben Shelton 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 for a place in the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard who defeated Alexander Zverev in the final here a year ago added to his ATP-leading match win total this season as he claimed his 34th in a bid for his fourth trophy of 2025.

He also notched his 100th Tour-level win on clay as he reached the last eight in Paris for a fourth time.

The 21-year-old disciple of retired clay king Rafael Nadal is the third Spanish man to achieve 11 Grand Slam quarter-finals after Nadal (47) and David Ferrer (17).

Alcaraz, who trailed in the first set decider and lost the third set, said he was not totally pleased with his performance.

“Today I fought against myself in my mind. “I tried to calm myself.  I was angry and not saying good things, let’s sat.

“But I’m happy I didn’t let those thoughts go against me. When I was down I kept going.”

Shelton was unable to prevent his opponent from earning an 11th straight win at the clay-court major.

Alcaraz fought through the tight 67-minute first set which went into the tiebreaker, where Alcaraz trailed 4-1. Shelton missed on three set points before Alcaraz converted on his own second chance.

The second seed gave away a point under the rules on a volley in which he had to throw his racquet to touch the ball. But he schooled the chair official, explaining that the move was illegal as he did not have his racquet under his control when he won the point in the seventh game.

The second set was equally intense, with the Spaniard was forced to save six break points to hold in the opening game. A break in the penultimate game sent Alcaraz to a comfortable lead.

The third set featured back-to-back early breaks, with Shelton getting the last word as he won his first set with a break in the final game. Alcaraz wrapped up business in the fourth with a winner down the line on second match point.

American  12th seed Tommy Paul booked the third Grand Slam quarter-final spot of his career with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Alexei Popyrin.

He became the first American man to book the Paris quarters since Andre Agassi in 2003.

The match between a pair of former Roland Garros junior champions was a welcome relief for Paul, who needed to win five-set struggles in the previous  two rounds.

Popyrin, winner of last summer’s Masters title in Montreal, came into the match without the loss of a set.

Pure saved nine of 10 break points he faced. He is also the only American currently playing to have reached quarter-finals at the majors on three different surfaces.

“We’re having a great time. I’m enjoying it (clay) a lot. It was nice to get a straight-sets win today, give the body a little rest,” the winner said. 

“As much as I love the five-setters, I definitely like the three-setters a little bit better. I’m just excited for more matches.”

Paul added: “The key thing is always getting to the net more, playing more aggressive. On clay it’s a little tougher just because you’re so much farther back (on court).

“Every clay court season we’ve been adjusting and figuring out where is the best position for me to start points and play points; we’ve really moved back.”