PARIS (AP) — Before Frances Tiafoe played a point at this French Open, he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about its surface — or his chances in the tournament.
“Last tournament on clay, which I get really excited about,” Tiafoe said on the eve of the Grand Slam event at Roland-Garros. “And then we get on the real stuff, the grass and the summer hard courts — where tennis actually matters.”
Might have a different point of view now.
The 15th-seeded Tiafoe made his way into the quarterfinals at the French Open for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Daniel Altmaier of Germany on Sunday night, joining 12th-seeded Tommy Paul to put a pair of American men in the round of eight.
It’s the first time the country placed more than one man in the quarterfinals in Paris since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras did it together. Zero men from the United States had made it this far in any year since Andre Agassi in 2003.
The key for Tiafoe?
“Playing hard-court tennis on a clay court,” he said.
And Tiafoe — who celebrated his win by twice shouting a phrase that can’t be quoted fully here but included the words “let’s” and “go” — has done it without dropping a set.
Djokovic, Sinner
Claim QF berths
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner’s latest dominant performance at the French Open was a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 17 Andrey Rublev to extend his Grand Slam winning streak to 18 matches.
Sinner is a three-time major champion who won the U.S. Open last September and the Australian Open this January. Now he’ll try to get to the semifinals at Roland-Garros for the second consecutive year and faces 62nd-ranked Alexander Bublik on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic earned his 100th career French Open victory, a mark surpassed among men only by Rafael Nadal, by overwhelming Cam Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round Monday.
Djokovic hasn’t ceded a set on his way to the quarterfinals this year at Roland-Garros, where he has won three of his 24 Grand Slam titles.
Next up for Djokovic is a matchup against No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev on Wednesday for a berth in the semifinals.
Djokovic improved to 100-16 at the French Open. Nadal, who retired at the end of last season, went 112-4 while winning a record 14 championships at the clay-court major.
Next up is a matchup on Tuesday against No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who defeated No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Last year, Musetti won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics held at Roland-Garros and reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.
Four American women play in the fourth round Monday: No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, and No. 7 Madison Keys against Hailey Baptiste in an all-U.S. encounter.
Paul, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023, was never really troubled Sunday during his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win against 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia in less than two hours. Paul is a 28-year-old who grew up in North Carolina and now goes up against No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the defending champion who got past No. 13 Ben Shelton of the U.S. 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
“Obviously,” Paul said about Alcaraz, “the guy can play amazing tennis here.”
