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Third seed Carlos Alcaraz sparkled and showed steely resolve in his most convincing match at the French Open this year for a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over American Sebastian Korda to reach the fourth round of Roland Garros on Friday.
Still wearing a compression sleeve after a recent forearm issue, Alcaraz produced a stellar show in a rematch of the duo's 2022 encounter to firmly put himself back in the conversation as the favourite to lift the title in Paris and a third major.
"I feel amazing, feel great playing on this court. Obviously I have great memories here," Alcaraz said.
"Great matches I've played before. I'm feeling better and better every match I play. The crowd was amazing. Every day it's even better. I'm excited to play in the second week in Paris again. Hopefully I'll keep going."
The lively Alcaraz broke Korda in a close opening game but the world number three allowed his 27th-seeded opponent to hit back instantly and drag him into a fight on a cold evening on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He revved up his backhand to set up the opportunity to break for a 5-4 lead, pouncing when Korda netted a flying volley after surging forward, and the 21-year-old Spaniard took the opening set by holding serve to love in the following game.
The 2023 semi-finalist was clearly in the mood to entertain the evening crowd early in the next as he pulled off a sideways tweener that Korda dealt with at the net, and later lobbed the 23-year-old with a backhand from deep to draw level at 1-1.
Korda, who arrived in Paris hoping to emulate his father Petr's 1992 feat of reaching the Roland Garros final, could do little to stop his showman opponent from breaking but hung on during fierce rallies to hit back and level at 3-3.
Alcaraz let out a scream after blasting a 101 mph forehand to win the tie break and double his lead in the contest and the finish line appeared in sight when he broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set, which he wrapped up with a neat volley.
Swiatek keeps her cool and breezes through
Meanwhile Iga Swiatek kept her cool to breeze into the French Open fourth round on another damp day at Roland Garros on Friday but the red mist descended on Andrey Rublev who raged and ranted before becoming the highest men's seed to crash out.
Three-times champion Swiatek could not have asked for a more fitting venue than Court Philippe Chatrier to celebrate her 23rd birthday and the top seed from Poland gave herself the perfect gift with a 6-4, 6-2 thumping of Czech Marie Bouzkova.
Jannik Sinner also soaked up plenty of applause under the roof as the Australian Open champion dismantled Russian Pavel Kotov 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 while third seed Coco Gauff and eighth seed Ons Jabeur were also home and dry without too much fuss.
As grey clouds gathered over Roland Garros for a sixth day, spectators at Suzanne Lenglen sensed a big storm brewing inside Rublev's head and the sixth seed let his emotions take over in his 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-4 defeat by Matteo Arnaldi.
Rublev screamed at himself as the match began to slip away before also throwing his racket on the ground, hitting his legs with it and kicking his courtside bench.
The scenes were reminiscent of the time he bloodied his leg with his racket at the ATP Finals in 2023 and got defaulted two months ago in Dubai for yelling at a line judge.
It was a huge letdown after the 26-year-old's talent took the spotlight in a run to the Madrid title, raising hopes that a maiden Grand Slam crown was within his grasp after reaching the last eight at the majors 10 times.
Arnaldi's Italian compatriot Elisabetta Cocciaretto also proved to be a thorn for her fancied opponent as she beat 17th seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(4), 6-2 and said clay was the best surface for them to show off their skills.
Jabeur is another player who can work her magic on Parisian dirt and the Tunisian continued her latest quest to become the first Arab and African woman to win a Grand Slam by defeating Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4 7-6(5).
While third seed Gauff prevailed after showing some second-set grit in a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, her fellow American and former runner-up Sofia Kenin crashed to a 6-2, 7-5 defeat at the hands of Dane Clara Tauson.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was defeated in the 2021 final, cruised past China's Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round for the sixth year in a row.
