Matteo Arnaldi upsets No. 6 Andrey Rublev at French Open
Italy's Matteo Arnaldi produced a sensational performance to take out No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia and reach the last 16 of the French Open on Friday.
Arnaldi, 23, saved a set point in the opening set and went on to dominate his emotionally charged opponent for a 7-6 (8), 6-2, 6-4 victory to equal his best Grand Slam run.
Rublev ranted and raged at himself as the match began to slip away, thumping his racket into his legs and kicking his courtside bench as another chance at a deep Grand Slam run came to a bitter end on the Parisian dust.
"Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed, and I don't remember behaving worse [at] a Slam ever," Rublev said. "I think it was first time I ever behave that bad. Not much to say."
Arnaldi, who also reached the fourth round of last year's US Open, was solid throughout and barely put a foot wrong as he posted one of the biggest wins of his career.
Rublev has reached 10 Grand Slam quarterfinals without ever going further, but on this occasion even that proved beyond him as he could find no answer to Arnaldi's accuracy and power.
He is the highest-seeded casualty so far in the men's draw.
Arnaldi will play either Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas or China's Zhang Zhizhen for a place in the quarterfinals.
There was nothing between the players in the opening set, and it was the same in the tiebreak in which Arnaldi took a 5-3 lead only for Rublev to win the next three points.
Rublev could not convert his set point though and was left shaking his head as Arnaldi claimed the opener, sprinting from behind the baseline to reach a drop shot and angle a stunning winner past the Russian.
"The first set was very important for me, because you know I'm not the favorite, so going after a set like this down one set to love it's never easy," Arnaldi said on court. "It's incredible. I mean I think I played the best tennis for sure in my life I would say."
Service breaks were exchanged early in the second set, but Rublev began to boil as his forehand could not punch holes in the defenses of his opponent.
Arnaldi found the dampish court more to his liking, with his shots appearing to have more penetration, and Rublev buckled as his emotions once again began to get the better of him.
Arnaldi broke for a 4-3 lead in the third set and duly completed his first Grand Slam win against a top-10 player.
World No. 2 Jannik Sinner eased into the fourth round with a ruthless 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Russian Pavel Kotov.
The Australian Open champion, wearing a long-sleeve undershirt on yet another chilly day, only faced one break point in a one-sided encounter.
Kotov, who was hoping to beat a second Grand Slam champion in a row after eliminating Stan Wawrinka in the previous round, got off to a fiery start, but Sinner was still a level above in the first set.
The Italian got another early break in the second to move two sets up, and the same pattern was repeated in the third as Sinner wrapped up victory with an ace on match point to set up a meeting with either Austrian Sebastian Ofner or local favorite Corentin Moutet.
Sinner also beat Kotov in straight sets in the Madrid Masters in April.
"It was very different, I just tried to stay very focused on my game. Thanks for the support, it's amazing to play on this court," Sinner said on court Philippe Chatrier, where the stands gradually filled up after lunch time.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.