Saturday 01 / February / 2025
Paris: Matteo Arnaldi registered one of the biggest wins of his career at Roland Garros on Friday as he upset sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the third round of the ongoing French Open 2024.
Responding to Rublev's aggressive play with heavy hitting of his own, the Italian tallied his third Top 10 victory with a 7-6(8), 6-2, 6-4 triumph to reach the fourth round.
The 23-year-old miraculously saved a set point at 5/6 in the first-set tie-break before scoring three successive games, including an almost unbelievable angled forehand dig, to win the opening.
Arnaldi pounded 47 winners to revenge his setback to Rublev in Vienna last year and tie the ATP Head2Head series at 1-1. The victory propels Arnaldi to a career-high No. 34 in the ATP Live Rankings, a significant improvement from 12 months ago when he participated at the French major as the World No. 106.
The 23-year-old is in the fourth round of a Slam for the second time (2023 US Open) and will face either ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or China's Zhang Zhizhen. Rublev, winner of this year's ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, is the highest seed to fall.
"I was really nervous at the end because I was going to serve for the match for one of the biggest wins of my life. But I managed it really well... I was focussed on myself and doing the right thing," Arnaldi said as quoted by ATP.
Earlier, Holger Rune survived a second-round scare at Roland Garros, defeating Italian Flavio Cobolli despite losing a two-set lead.
Rune, a two-time quarter-finalist, unleashed his fiery competitive spirit as he won 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(10-7) in front of an energised Court 14.
The Dane rallied from a 0/5 deficit in the deciding-set tie-break, scoring seven of the next eight points to close in on his eventual three-hour, 50-minute win.
Jannik Sinner knocks out Pavel Kotov, seals place in fourth round
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner continued his flawless form in the clay-court major by defeating Pavel Kotov 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 for his third straight-set victory in French Open 2024.
The second seed Sinner had a rock-solid all-around performance to win a two-hour, 27-minute match against two of the ATP Tour's cleanest ball-strikers.
Sinner secured his victory with a single break of serve in each set, extending his ATP Head2Head series advantage over Kotov to 2-0 after defeating the World No. 56 in Madrid last month. Sinner, who is now 31-2 on the season, will next face Sebastian Ofner or home favourite Corentin Moutet in Paris.
"I think it was very different. Every situation on the court was much different to Madrid. I just tried to stay very focused on my game. Thanks [to the crowd] for all the support, it's amazing to play here on this court. I enjoy it," Sinner said in his on-court interview as quoted by ATP.
Sinner and Kotov both used their groundstrokes aggressively in an interesting match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but Sinner's serving ability proved crucial. The Italian survived the only break point he faced when leading 3-2 in the second set, and he concluded the match with 79 per cent (41/52) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys Stats.
Sinner will compete for a double prize at Roland Garros this fortnight. In addition to chasing his second major championship after winning the Australian Open in January, the 22-year-old can secure his first place in the ATP Rankings by reaching the final in Paris.
Sinner, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros in 2020, is seeded to face his longtime nemesis Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. However, he is unlikely to look past his fourth-round match against Ofner or Moutet as he seeks his fourth tour-level title of the year in the French capital.
Despite his defeat to Sinner, Kotov's debut in the third round of a major has increased the 25-year-old's chances of breaking into the Top 50 for the first time. He has risen five spots to No. 51 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings following his performance at Roland Garros, where he overcame 32nd seed Cameron Norrie and former champion Stan Wawrinka in the first two rounds.
