Third seed Carlos Alcaraz appeared back to his swashbuckling best as he dismantled Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets on Sunday to reach the last eight at the French Open.
The 21-year-old was too swift and enterprising for the 23rd seed who was unable to punch through the Spaniard's defences in their sixth meeting on the senior tour but their first on clay.
After trading breaks early in the first set, Alcaraz broke again to lead the 23-year-old Canadian 5-3.
He served out to claim the opener 6-3 in 49 minutes.
During the second set, after losing his serve, Auger-Aliassime squandered three successive points to draw level at 3-3. Alcaraz held to lead 4-2 and demonstrated his burgeoning confidence with an improvised pass down the line using a one-handed backhand instead of his habitual two-handed grip. The Court Philippe Chatrier crowd lapped up the élan.
Challenge
Once he had fallen two sets down, Auger-Aliassime was simply unable to reset.
His previously efficient serve deserted him and with Alcaraz leading 3-0, two double faults in the fourth game effectively handed the match to Alcaraz.
Alcaraz ended Auger-Aliassime's agony without much fuss to complete a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 victory which put them at three apiece in their nascent rivalry.
"We both showed a great level of tennis," said Alcaraz after his victory in two hours and 20 minutes.
"He'd beaten me more times before and so I'm happy with the performance. There weren't too many ups and downs."
Alcaraz will play the ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas who survived an initially thorny encounter with the unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
After losing the first set, Tsitsipas saved three set points in the second set before winning it in the tiebreak.
Fall
Arnaldi subsequently crumbled and the 25-year-old Greek claimed the spoils 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 in three hours and 11 minutes.
"I've seen a lot of his matches and Stefanos is playing with a lot of confidence," said Alcaraz of his impending clash with Tsitsipas.
"I think I have the keys to win. I'll try to serve my best and I'm looking forward to it."
In the top half of the women's draw, top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek annihilated fellow 23-year-old Anastasia Potopova 6-0, 6-0 in 40 minutes to advance to the quarter-finals where she will play the fifth seed Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
Third seed Coco Gauff was equally expeditive. She brushed aside the unseeded Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-2 in an hour.
The American will take on the eighth seed Ons Jabeur after the Tunisian dispatched Clara Tauson 6-4, 6-4.
