Marathon Man Arnaldi Stuns Tiafoe To Enter French Open Quarters

Matteo Arnaldi has now spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court in Paris -- the most by any player reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since the ATP Tour began recording match times in 1991.

Matteo Arnaldi clawed his way back from the brink to become the third Italian man in the French Open quarter-finals on Monday, outlasting American Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 in a delirious late-night epic on court Suzanne-Lenglen.

With the crowd crackling under the Paris floodlights, the world number 104 stared elimination in the face when he trailed 4-1 in the fourth set, only to summon one final surge and prevail on his third match point after five hours and 26 minutes of ferocious shot-making and lung-busting rallies.

“It’s a dream to be here. Today in the third set I was so tired,” said Arnaldi, the marathon man of this year’s tournament after already needing more than five hours to win his third-round match.

“We live to play these matches, I always wanted to play like this at night at Roland Garros.

“It was not tennis, just something else, with everything we had. Someone had to win. Fortunately, it was me tonight.”

Arnaldi has now spent 17 hours and 42 minutes on court in Paris -- the most by any player reaching the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since the ATP Tour began recording match times in 1991.

The Italian produced moments of almost absurd defence to blunt the power of 19th seed Tiafoe, scrambling from corner to corner and somehow turning defence into attack in a match that repeatedly pushed both men beyond exhaustion.

Tiafoe eventually cracked, dumping a backhand into the net.

Arnaldi will next face compatriot Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semi-finals, both joining Flavio Cobolli in the last eight after their compatriot Jannik Sinner's surprise second-round exit.

Italian Matteo Berrettini reached the French Open quarterfinals for the second time on Monday by beating Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6), matching his best result at Roland Garros after returning to the tournament for the first time in five years.

Berrettini, who became the lowest-ranked men's quarterfinalist at Roland Garros since 2007, had missed the previous four editions because of injuries and arrived in Paris ranked world number 105. 

Having, saved two match points against Francisco Comesana in the third round, he saved three set points in the third against Cerundolo and prevailed on first match point.

Berrettini next faces American Frances Tiafoe or fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi.

Cerundolo, who rallied from two sets down to beat world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round, saw his breakthrough run end after spending more than 12 hours on court to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Cerundolo had defeated Martin Landaluce in another five-set marathon lasting five hours and 58 minutes, the third-longest match in Roland Garros history.  

Aliassime Packs Off Tabilo 

Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to become the first Canadian man to reach the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments and stay on track for his maiden major title.

The world number six Auger-Aliassime eased through the opening set before Toronto-born Tabilo stepped up his game. The players went toe-to-toe until Tabilo dropped his serve in the 11th game, handing Auger-Aliassime the advantage.

A clean hold meant the Canadian had a two-set lead and the 25-year-old barely looked back from there. After edging ahead in the third, the fourth seed finished the match in style.

Auger-Aliassime looked fresh despite being taken to five sets in his opener and playing two four-set matches. He will take on Flavio Cobolli in the next round, after the 10th seed beat American Zachary Svajda. 

Cobolli Pips unseeded Svajda to seal last-eight spot

Tenth-seed Flavio Cobolli dropped his first set of the tournament but beat unseeded American Zachary Svajda en route to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5) to book his spot in the French Open last eight.

The 24-year-old Italian has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the second time after last year's run to the last eight at Wimbledon.

He was the only player left in the draw in Paris not to have dropped a set going into the fourth round.

Cobolli, far more experienced on clay than his opponent ranked 85th in the world, made sure of a solid start and an early break to take control of the first set. A second break landed him the set.

Svajda, making his French Open main draw debut, had only won one match on clay this season going into the tournament, and it showed with the Italian moving far better and the American struggling with a weak second serve.

The 23-year-old Svajda varied his game in the third set, becoming more aggressive and rushing to the net. He did not manage to break Cobolli but snatched the tiebreak to cut his lead.

Cobolli looked to have all but finished the job when he broke twice to race to a 4-0 lead, but Svajda reined him in, whipping big forehand winners to force another tiebreak, with the Italian having wasted one match point when he was 5-4 up.

The world number 14 recovered just in time to win the tiebreak to set up a quarterfinal clash with Felix Auger-Aliassimee.