Alexander Zverev rallies late, reaches 4th round at French Open

PARIS -- Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev rallied from 4-1 down in the fifth set to beat 26th-seeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) and advance to the fourth round at the French Open. 

Zverev, who won the Italian Open last month, has reached the semifinals at the past three French Opens and avoided his earliest exit at Roland Garros since losing in the first round in 2017.

Zverev's trial in Germany for allegedly causing bodily harm to a woman began on Friday. The prosecution accuses Zverev of pushing his ex-partner against a wall and choking her during an argument in Berlin in May 2020.

Griekspoor fell short of reaching the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time and his record against top-five players dropped to 0-11.

In other men's third-round play, former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev won 7-6 (4), 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 against Tomas Machac and 21st-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime beat No.15-seeded American Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

Their match was halted by rain on Friday night. Shelton was bothered by a left shoulder issue and had it worked on by a trainer.

Auger-Aliassime has never reached the quarterfinals here, and must get past two-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz.

For the fifth consecutive day, rain interrupted play. Shortly before 1 p.m. rain came again with a chilly wind and the temperature dropped to an unappealing 14 degrees (57 F).

Medvedev wore leg warmers during his first set against Machac, who beat Novak Djokovic last week in the Geneva Open semifinals, then removed them for the second set.

There was an unusual moment late in the match when chair umpire Damien Dumusois collected a pigeon that fell onto the court.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.