ATP
Roland Garros 2024 Men’s Day 6
Jannik Sinner moved closer to a possible rise to world No. 1 as the second seed produced a third consecutive straight-sets victory which took him into the fourth round of the French Open on Friday.
The Australian Open champion dominated Pavel Kotov, winner in the second round over 2015 Paris champion Stan Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on the Chatrier showcase court.
According to ATP calculations, Sinner would need to reach next Sunday’s Roland Garros final to replace Novak Djokovic on the top spot and become the first Italian to stand atop the ranking table.
Sinner sealed two of his three winning sets against Kotov with aces as he repeated a spring victory from Madrid against the No. 56.
“I was happy to get through, and let’s see what I can do in the next round,” Sinner said.
“Tennis-wise I felt quite good today on court. Physically I feel like I still
have to improve a couple of things.
“I’m trying to be ready for the next round.
“I know that there are tough moments on the court, but, you know, you have to accept it and see the general view.”
Fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi led the way for his Sinner earlier in the afternoon as he shoved sixth seed Andrey Rublev to the exits as the first Top 15 men’s seed to lose after six days of play.
The No 35 outsider kept up the pressure to eliminate a frustrated Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-4 in two and a half hours.
The emotional seed who was DQ’d last February in Dubai for a similar outburst against a linesman, seed melted down in the second set after going down a break, slamming his racquet onto the clay and screaming at his player box to no avail.
His level-headed opponent simply stayed steady to grind out the straight-sets win in heavy conditions with the Lenglen court roof both open and closed during the contest.
“This was incredible, I played the best match of my life for sure,” the winner said. “To do it in three sets at a Slam…I was not expecting.
“He was not playing his best tennis but I was able to find the tactics to put him under pressure and that worked well.”
Arnaldi, who produced nearly 50 winners in his upset victory, said winning the opening-set tiebreaker was key.
“It gave me a lot of energy and confidence, so I continued to push.”
Rublev expressed regret for his meltdown: “Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed.
“I don’t remember behaving worse in a Slam ever.”
Andry Rublev (xxx) loses second round match in straight sets to Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) Photo Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
He added: “I had a lot of chances, and I didn’t make it. Then in one moment, if I completely lose it.
“I was keeping it inside, and when I lost the break second time in the second set, I lost it completely.”
Ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas eliminated China’s “Treble Zed” Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, with the 2021 finalist form Greece moving into the fourth round here for a sixth straight edition.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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