French Open on course for Djokovic and Alcaraz clash in semis
The hotly anticipated first Grand Slam meeting between world No1 Carlos Alcaraz and 22-time major winner Novak Djokovic is just one match away after both players dispatched their third round opponents and reached the last eight in Paris.
Serbian Djokovic beat Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2 to earn a quarter-final tie against Karen Khachanov while Spaniard Alcaraz overcame Lorenzo Musetti 6-3 6-2 6-2 to reach the same stage at Roland Garros.
Djokovic and Alcaraz will meet each other in the last four if they win their respective quarter-finals.
The duo have played once before – at the 2022 Masters in Madrid – with Alcaraz winning in three sets.
Elsewhere at Roland Garros, a women’s doubles team made up of Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi were disqualified in the second set of their round of 16 tie after the Japanese player Kato inadvertently struck a ball girl.
Karolina Muchova beat Elina Avanesyan 6-4 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals while Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova took three sets to beat Elise Mertens in three sets.
Women’s world No1 Iga Swiatek competes today against Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine while Alexander Zverev plays Grigor Dimitrov