Carlos Alcaraz advances to the French Open quarter-finals and is set to play against Stefanos Tsitsipas

Carlos Alcaraz sets up French Open quarter-final encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas – a repeat of last year’s quarter-final which the Greek lost.

Carlos Alcaraz had little trouble in beating Felix Auger-Aliassime, sealing a 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory over the Canadian to move into the quarter-finals where he will face Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Alcaraz charged into the quarter-finals for a third straight year after the two-time Grand Slam champion made light work of a weary Auger-Aliassime with an entertaining display at Roland Garros.

Tsitsipas kept alive his bid to win his first Grand Slam title by defeating Italian Matteo Arnaldi 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2.

Alcaraz, looking for a first French Open title, arrived at Roland Garros with a lingering forearm injury and having not played a match in three weeks.

But this is the man who pitched up at Queen’s Club last year having only ever played six matches on grass, and ended up winning Wimbledon.

After an exchange of breaks early in the contest, third seed Alcaraz wasted several chances to punish Auger-Aliassime’s serve but the 21-year-old finally got his reward with a sliding volley for a 5-3 lead and held his nerve to win the next game.

Last year’s semi-finalist showcased his skills at the net again to save a break point in the third game of the second set and got back level after a nine-minute game, before unleashing a huge backhand down the line to grab the lead in the next game.

The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime came out fighting following treatment for an injury, but Alcaraz recovered from 0-40 down to extend his lead, delighting fans with a flicked single-handed backhand winner from deep en route to a two-set advantage.

Still playing within himself after a recent arm injury, the Spaniard raced to a 5-0 lead in the third set, closing out the match in style to book a last-eight clash with Tsitsipas.

The Greek ninth seed overcame an early blip to beat Arnaldi on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to move into the quarter-finals where he will face Alcaraz.

Novak Djokovic admitted that the late-night finish at the French Open “could have been handled differently.” He played against Lorenzo Musetti, reaching the fourth round with the last ball struck at 3:08am local time. Djokovic suggested that the scheduling and timing of matches could have been managed more efficiently, given the extraordinary circumstances.