World number one Carlos Alcaraz crushed Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday and move a step closer to a blockbuster showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz fired 42 winners and broke seven times as he made light work of Italian 17th seed Musetti, who had won their only previous encounter last year on clay.
The Spaniard, the reigning US Open champion, has won his past 11 Grand Slam matches and is through to the last eight at Roland Garros for the second year in a row.
“I think I played such a great level, really high quality of shots. I played a really complete match from the first ball until the last and I’m pretty happy to get through this tough round,” said Alcaraz.
“I try not to think about the number one (ranking), the pressure, winning the tournament. I try to put all those thoughts outside my mind and try just to play tennis, to enjoy it and smile all the time.”
The 20-year-old will face either 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas or Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner in the next round.
Alcaraz improved to 34-3 for the season and is one win away from potentially meeting two-time French Open winner Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Elina Svitolina advances
Elina Svitolina, playing her first Grand Slam since becoming a mother, reached the French Open quarter-finals for the fourth time on Sunday.
The Ukrainian defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) for a seventh win in seven meetings against the Russian who was a semi-finalist last year.
As with all her matches, Svitolina opted not to shake hands with her Russian opponent in protest at the war in Ukraine.
Kasatkina still gave her rival a friendly thumbs-up.
“The support was really special today,” said the 28-year-old Svitolina who has been adopted as an honorary Frenchwoman due to her marriage to French tennis star Gael Monfils.
“Now I know what Gael has experienced all these years.”
Svitolina, also a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2015, 2017 and 2020, saw a match point disappear in the 10th game of the second set but made no mistake on her second chance in the tiebreaker.
“When I was giving birth to our daughter in October, I never believed I would go all the way to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam,” she added.
“It’s a special feeling. I hope I can push even further. I am really motivated to give everything in my next matches.”
Svitolina will face either world number two and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka or former US Open winner Sloane Stephens for a place in what would be her third semi-final at the majors.
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