Third-seed Carlos Alcaraz qualified to the quarterfinals with an impressive 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime who suffered a groin injury, midway through the match. Alcaraz’s victory means the stage is set up for a mouth-watering clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the semi-finals, where the Spaniard was defeated last year by eventual winner, Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz had a horror start to the match as the Canadian broke him in the first game of the match. However, the two-time Grand Slam winner held his nerves and immediately broke back to assert his dominance.

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It was in the eighth game that Alcaraz won the breakpoint after a lengthy 24 shots rally to take advantage in the set and wrap it up on his serve in the next game. 

Auger-Aliassime started the second set promisingly and managed to stay in the contest. However, a groin issue while returning one of Alcaraz’s booming serve meant that he had to seek a medical timeout. 

Alcaraz goes for the jugular 

After taking a lengthy break, Auger-Aliassime did return to the centre court at the Philippe Chatrier in front of an applauding audience but could not get his mojo back. 

Alcaraz, with the momentum by his side, went after the Canadian and left him in the dust with his effortless court coverage. The Spaniard was particularly impressive in coming up to the net and placing his shots with impeccable precision. 

The third set was a mere formality as Auger-Aliassime dropped his weapons or perhaps was forced to do so as Alcaraz unleashed his full range of shots upon him. 

“I was looking forward to this, I was very happy to win. I felt strong in the rallies, five or six or seven shots in a point. Good intensity and rhythm. He [Auger-Aliassime] leads with his serves and gets a lot of free points,” said Alcaraz in the post-match interview. 

While Alcaraz won in straight sets, Tsitsipas had to overcome a set while battling tiebreaker in the second to finish on the right side of the result against Matteo Arnaldi who had defeated Andrey Rublev in the previous round. 

Alcaraz has won all five past encounters, including a straight-sets win over Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals of last year’s French Open. However, the Greek, who finished as the runner-up last year, would be hoping to go the distance this time. 

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