Paris: Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner kept their cool to breeze into the French Open fourth round on another damp day at Roland Garros on Friday but the red mist descended on Andrey Rublev who raged and ranted before becoming the highest men's seed to crash out.
Poland's three-times champion Swiatek could not have asked for a more fitting venue than Court Philippe Chatrier to celebrate her 23rd birthday and the top seed gave herself the perfect gift with a 6-4 6-2 thumping of Czech Marie Bouzkova.
Sinner also soaked up plenty of applause under the roof as the Australian Open champion dismantled Russian Pavel Kotov 6-4 6-4 6-4 while third seed Coco Gauff and eighth seed Ons Jabeur were also home and dry without too much fuss.
As grey clouds gathered over Roland Garros for a sixth day, spectators at Suzanne Lenglen sensed a big storm brewing inside Rublev's head and the sixth seed let his emotions take over in his 7-6(6) 6-2 6-4 defeat by Matteo Arnaldi.
Rublev screamed at himself as the match began to slip away before also throwing his racket on the ground, hitting his legs with it and kicking his courtside bench. The scenes were reminiscent of the time he bloodied his leg with his racket at the ATP Finals in 2023 and got defaulted two months ago in Dubai for yelling at a line judge.
It was a huge letdown after the 26-year-old's talent took the spotlight in a run to the Madrid Masters title, raising hopes that a maiden Grand Slam crown was within his grasp after reaching the last-eight at the majors 10 times. "Completely disappointed with myself the way I behaved, the way I performed and I don't remember behaving worse in a Grand Slam ever," a remorseful Rublev said.
"I think it was first time I've behaved that bad."
ITALIANS' SURFACE
Arnaldi's Italian compatriot Elisabetta Cocciaretto also proved to be a thorn for her fancied opponent as she beat 17th seed Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(4) 6-2.
"Italians, we were born on clay. It's different for the other players, from China and the United States, who were born on hardcourts," Cocciaretto said. "For us, it's not a comfort zone but our surface."
Jabeur is another player who can work her magic on Parisian dirt and the Tunisian continued her latest quest to become the first Arab and African woman to win a Grand Slam by defeating Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4 7-6(5).
While third seed Gauff prevailed after showing some second-set grit in a 6-2 6-4 win over Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, her fellow American and former runner-up Sofia Kenin crashed to a 6-2 7-5 defeat at the hands of Dane Clara Tauson.
After a scare in the last round, Czech Marketa Vondrousova saw off the challenge of Chloe Paquet 6-1 6-3, while her fellow Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz is in action later in the men's draw against American Sebastian Korda. Korda will be looking to emulate his father Petr who reached the Roland Garros final in 1992.
