Alcaraz fights into French Open last 16 as Swiatek, Sabalenka progress

PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare to book his place in the French Open last 16 on Friday, with defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka also through to the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Second seed Alcaraz won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 against 69th-ranked Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the night session to keep his title defense on course.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz arrived as the favorite at Roland Garros after securing the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open trophies in the build-up to the clay-court major.
But his fluctuating performances in the past two rounds have given his rivals reason to believe he is vulnerable.
“Today I honestly didn’t enjoy it that much. I suffered quite a lot,” said a relieved Alcaraz, who came from a break down in the fourth set to seal victory.
“That’s why doing a really good result in a Grand Slam is really difficult because you have to maintain a really high level for three to four hours.”
The 22-year-old next meets American 13th seed Ben Shelton who eased past Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Swiatek kept her bid for a fourth consecutive French Open title on track, coming through 6-2, 7-5 against Romania’s world number 60 Jaqueline Cristian in sweltering conditions.
Swiatek broke the 60th-ranked Cristian twice in a comfortable first set, but she was pushed a lot harder by her rival in the second and had to save six break points.
“She really stepped up in the second set.

I had to step up as well. It was an entertaining match,” said Swiatek, hoping to become the first woman to win four successive Roland Garros titles since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
The 23-year-old Pole will next play 12th seed Elena Rybakina after the Kazakh dispatched 2017