Zverev cruises past De Jong to reach his sixth Roland-Garros quarter-final

Alexander Zverev, the second seed, beat Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday afternoon to reach the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros for the sixth consecutive year and the eighth time in his career. It was his 17th Grand Slam quarter-final overall.

De Jong, the world No. 106 who had reached the round of 16 by beating 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, Italian qualifier Federico Cinà and 13th seed Karen Khachanov in five sets, made his presence felt for stretches. He led 3-0 in the opening set, and 3-0 in the first-set tie-break, before Zverev’s serve found its range and his return took over.

The German took the breaker 7-3, broke once in the second set to lead 5-4 – De Jong held on to that point but no longer after – and ran the third set 6-1 in 28 minutes.

Zverev – Jodar, heavyweight quarter final

The win, in a contest that was over as a competitive proposition by the second-set break point, lets Zverev being the favourite to reach the final from his half. With Jannik Sinner gone after the second-round upset to Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Novak Djokovic out after his five-set loss to João Fonseca in the third round, and Carlos Alcaraz absent through injury before the tournament began, the second seed sits as the only top-three player still in the men’s draw.

He will face Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old 27th seed who beat Pablo Carreño Busta from two sets down earlier on Sunday, in the quarter-finals.