Reigning champion Iga Swiatek celebrated her 23rd birthday by brushing aside Marie Bouzkova to reach the French Open last 16 on Friday, while Coco Gauff eased into the second week for a fourth straight year and Jannik Sinner also powered through.
Later, Carlos Alcaraz was bidding to reach the last 16 and edge closer to a semi-final meeting with Sinner, who saw off Russian Pavel Kotov 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Sixth seed Andrey Rublev suffered a shock exit at the hands of unheralded Italian Matteo Arnaldi, losing his cool repeatedly as anger at his performance boiled over.
Swiatek had to save a match point to avoid an upset defeat by fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in a second-round thriller, but she was never in trouble during a 6-4, 6-2 win over Czech Bouzkova. “I feel good physically, I had a day off on Friday,” said Swiatek. “I don’t feel like the match (against Osaka) stayed with me but we’ll see at the end of the tournament.”
The world number one is a red-hot favourite to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for a third straight year and become only the fourth woman to win four Roland Garros titles in the Open era. She was much closer to her best form on Friday, hitting 34 winners and making only 19 unforced errors. Swiatek will play Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in the next round tomorrow. The Polish star’s win-loss record at the tournament stands at 32-2 and she has never failed to reach the second week.
Gauff held off a late fightback from Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana Yastremska to win 6-2, 6-4 in the first match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. The reigning US Open champion has an excellent record at Roland Garros, having previously reached two quarter-finals and the 2022 final which she lost to Swiatek.
The 20-year-old failed to serve out the match when leading 5-2 in the second set, but saved three break points in the 10th game before getting over the line. “When it was time to close out and the games were getting close and tight, I was trying to just remind myself I’m in the better position,” Gauff said. “I’m the one up a set and double break, so I was just reminding myself of that.”
Gauff will play Elisabetta Cocciaretto for a last-eight berth, after the unseeded Italian beat Russian 17th seed Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets.
Rublev became the biggest casualty in the men’s draw so far, as he fell to a surprise straight-sets defeat by Italian Matteo Arnaldi. Rublev, who lifted the Madrid Open title last month, repeatedly smashed his racquet in frustration as he made 37 unforced errors in an erratic display.
“Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed,” admitted the Russian. “The problem is the head, that today basically I killed myself, and that’s it.”
Arnaldi will face former runner-up Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who cruised past China’s Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the fourth round of the French Open for the sixth year in a row. The finalist in 2021 sent more than 30 winners to wrap up the match in just 91 minutes.
Zhang became the first Chinese man in 86 years to win a main-draw match at Roland Garros last year en route to the third round, but could not improve on that showing as he was never able to set up a break-point chance.
The ninth-ranked Tsitsipas came charging out of the gate, winning the first three games, and kept up the momentum as he broke Zhang on his second try in the opening game of the second set.
Tsitsipas played pristine tennis, producing just three unforced errors in the second set, as he broke Zhang again in the ninth game. Zhang struggled with his forehand late in the match and sent shots out of bounds on back-to-back points to hand Tsitsipas the break in the fourth game of the third set, and the Greek ran away with it from there.
Sinner barely had to break sweat, though, saving the only break point he faced in a dominant display against Kotov. The Australian Open champion, who will overtake Novak Djokovic as world number one if he reaches the final, will next take on either home hope Corentin Moutet or Austrian Sebastian Ofner for a place in the quarter-finals. Sinner, who has only lost two matches so far this year, is yet to drop a set in the tournament.
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova ended the run of Frenchwoman Chloe Pacquet, winning 6-1, 6-3. She will next face Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic, who backed up her upset win over Danielle Collins with another comeback victory in a deciding-set tie-break against Donna Vekic.
Tunisian eighth seed Ons Jabeur beat Leylah Fernandez, teeing up a fourth-round match with Clara Tauson, after the Dane followed her surprise second-round success against Jelena Ostapenko by knocking out former finalist Sofia Kenin.

Third round results
(x denotes seeded player)
Men: Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) bt Andrey Rublev (RUS x6) 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, 6-4; Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x9) bt Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; Jannik Sinner (ITA x2) bt Pavel Kotov (RUS) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Women: Iga Swiatek (POL x1) bt Marie Bouzkova (CZE) 6-4, 6-2; Anastasia Potapova (RUS) bt Wang Xinyu (CHN) 7-5, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4; Olga Danilovic (SRB) bt Donna Vekic (CRO) 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/8); Marketa Vondrousova (CZE x5) bt Chloe Paquet (FRA) 6-1, 6-3; Coco Gauff (USA x3) bt Dayana Yastremska (UKR x30) 6-2, 6-4; Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA) bt Liudmila Samsonova (RUS x17) 7-6 (7/4), 6-2; Clara Tauson (DEN) bt Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-2, 7-5; Ons Jabeur (TUN x8) bt Leylah Fernandez (CAN x31) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)