Alcaraz hands point to Shelton at French Open in act of sportsmanship

Carlos Alcaraz is such a constant ray of sunshine on court that it always seems a surprise when a darker mood descends.
Yet the Spaniard was still able to win the battle with his own mind to earn his 100th tour clay court victory and advance to the French Open quarterfinals overnight.
The 22-year-old subdued dangerous Ben Shelton 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier, meaning he has now lost a set in each of the last three matches of his title defence en route to the quarterfinals.
They have all featured spells of familiar stellar quality but also careless patches — "dumb mistakes" as Alcaraz dubbed them — that have begun to irritate him even if, in truth, they've never looked like derailing him.
"Honestly, today I fought against myself in the mind," Alcaraz said.
"I just tried to calm myself. In some moments I was mad.
"I was angry with myself, talking not good things. I'm happy that I didn't let that thought play against me.
"I tried to calm myself and tried to keep going."
He did keep going and the crowd couldn't have loved him more, especially when he owned up that one seemingly amazing winner he had hit should not count.
He had flung his racquet out at full stretch to get to a Shelton passing shot and, miraculously, pulled off what looked to everyone like a winning volley.
He was awarded the point, but admitted to the chair umpire that his hand wasn't holding the racquet and got a rousing ovation from the crowd for his sportsmanship.
"I would have felt guilty if I didn't say anything," Alcaraz said.
"It's just about the respect we have against each other."
Alcaraz, after 19 wins in 20 clay-court matches this season now, will be hot favourite to get past his next obstacle too, even though 12th seed Tommy Paul looked a potentially troublesome quarterfinal foe as he outclassed Australian Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
The first American man to reach the French Open quarterfinals in 22 years since Andre Agassi, Paul loves pitting himself against the Spaniard and had beaten him a couple of times, though Alcaraz won their last encounter at Roland Garros in the Olympic quarterfinal.
"I remember that every match I've played against him he was really tough," Alcaraz said.
"In grand slams, Masters 1000s, all tournaments I've played against him it wasn't easy at all. His level is really high right now.
"I'll try to keep going, trying to be better. I'll try to learn from the mistakes I made today. I'm not going to make the same against Tommy."
Frances Tiafoe was another American to make the last eight, defeating German Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
AAP

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Sabalenka weathers Zheng storm to reach French semis

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2 hours ago

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Sabalenka weathers Zheng storm to reach French semis

World number one Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a slow start to systematically dismantle Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory that sent her into the French Open semi-finals. Sabalenka, who suffered her first loss to Zheng in seven career meetings in the Rome quarter-finals last month, went behind early in the opening set at a half-full Court Philippe Chatrier. China's Zheng, bidding to emulate compatriot Li Na's 2011 triumph at Roland Garros, crushed a powerful forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead but Sabalenka moved through the gears to level five games later. The 27-year-old top seed was denied on set point while up 6-5, but shrugged off that disappointment to glide through the tiebreak when errors crept into eighth seed Zheng's game. The two players swapped breaks in a high octane second set. A huge forehand winner put Sabalenka 5-3 up and the triple grand slam champion never looked back as she set up a last-four meeting with either 13th seed Elina Svitolina or four-time champion Iga Swiatek. "It was a true battle and I had no idea how I could break her back and get back into the first set. I didn't start well and I'm glad I found my rhythm and won," said Sabalenka, who took a step closer to her maiden French Open title. "I think we're all here for one reason. Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I'm glad I have another opportunity, another semi-final to do better than last time. "I really hope that by the end of the claycourt season I'm really proud of myself." World number one Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a slow start to systematically dismantle Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory that sent her into the French Open semi-finals. Sabalenka, who suffered her first loss to Zheng in seven career meetings in the Rome quarter-finals last month, went behind early in the opening set at a half-full Court Philippe Chatrier. China's Zheng, bidding to emulate compatriot Li Na's 2011 triumph at Roland Garros, crushed a powerful forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead but Sabalenka moved through the gears to level five games later. The 27-year-old top seed was denied on set point while up 6-5, but shrugged off that disappointment to glide through the tiebreak when errors crept into eighth seed Zheng's game. The two players swapped breaks in a high octane second set. A huge forehand winner put Sabalenka 5-3 up and the triple grand slam champion never looked back as she set up a last-four meeting with either 13th seed Elina Svitolina or four-time champion Iga Swiatek. "It was a true battle and I had no idea how I could break her back and get back into the first set. I didn't start well and I'm glad I found my rhythm and won," said Sabalenka, who took a step closer to her maiden French Open title. "I think we're all here for one reason. Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I'm glad I have another opportunity, another semi-final to do better than last time. "I really hope that by the end of the claycourt season I'm really proud of myself." World number one Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a slow start to systematically dismantle Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory that sent her into the French Open semi-finals. Sabalenka, who suffered her first loss to Zheng in seven career meetings in the Rome quarter-finals last month, went behind early in the opening set at a half-full Court Philippe Chatrier. China's Zheng, bidding to emulate compatriot Li Na's 2011 triumph at Roland Garros, crushed a powerful forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead but Sabalenka moved through the gears to level five games later. The 27-year-old top seed was denied on set point while up 6-5, but shrugged off that disappointment to glide through the tiebreak when errors crept into eighth seed Zheng's game. The two players swapped breaks in a high octane second set. A huge forehand winner put Sabalenka 5-3 up and the triple grand slam champion never looked back as she set up a last-four meeting with either 13th seed Elina Svitolina or four-time champion Iga Swiatek. "It was a true battle and I had no idea how I could break her back and get back into the first set. I didn't start well and I'm glad I found my rhythm and won," said Sabalenka, who took a step closer to her maiden French Open title. "I think we're all here for one reason. Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I'm glad I have another opportunity, another semi-final to do better than last time. "I really hope that by the end of the claycourt season I'm really proud of myself." World number one Aryna Sabalenka recovered from a slow start to systematically dismantle Paris Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory that sent her into the French Open semi-finals. Sabalenka, who suffered her first loss to Zheng in seven career meetings in the Rome quarter-finals last month, went behind early in the opening set at a half-full Court Philippe Chatrier. China's Zheng, bidding to emulate compatriot Li Na's 2011 triumph at Roland Garros, crushed a powerful forehand winner to break for a 2-1 lead but Sabalenka moved through the gears to level five games later. The 27-year-old top seed was denied on set point while up 6-5, but shrugged off that disappointment to glide through the tiebreak when errors crept into eighth seed Zheng's game. The two players swapped breaks in a high octane second set. A huge forehand winner put Sabalenka 5-3 up and the triple grand slam champion never looked back as she set up a last-four meeting with either 13th seed Elina Svitolina or four-time champion Iga Swiatek. "It was a true battle and I had no idea how I could break her back and get back into the first set. I didn't start well and I'm glad I found my rhythm and won," said Sabalenka, who took a step closer to her maiden French Open title. "I think we're all here for one reason. Everyone wants that beautiful trophy. I'm glad I have another opportunity, another semi-final to do better than last time. "I really hope that by the end of the claycourt season I'm really proud of myself."