Alcaraz grinds past Shelton to advance to last eight at French Open

Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz won a war of attrition with 13th seed Ben Shelton to reach the French Open quarterfinals on Sunday.

The Spaniard emerged victorious 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 after over three hours of blistering serves, power hitting, and drop shots on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"I think we both have huge respect to each other, we entertained the people well," Alcaraz said on court. "He's a really powerful player, he can make any shot ... I appreciate the moment that I've shared with him today."

The four-time Grand Slam winner edged out a tight first set, which produced only one unconverted break point, at the end of a lengthy tiebreak that saw both players come up with chances to clinch the opener.

When Alcaraz finally forced a break against the big-serving American in the second set, it was enough for him to move into a two-set lead. But he once again failed to see out a straight-sets victory, as Shelton produced two breaks of serve to take the most wide open frame of the match.

The 22-year-old nonetheless bounced back to gain the advantage in the fourth set, before serving out as dusk descended over center court. Another American awaits Alcaraz in the last eight, after 12th seed Tommy Paul defeated Alexei Popyrin of Australia in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti's impressive clay-court season rolled on in style, as the Italian craftsman downed Denmark's talented-but-erratic Holger Rune 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.

World No. 7 Musetti will take on American 15th seed Frances Tiafoe for a place in the last four.

Tiafoe made his way into the quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Daniel Altmaier of Germany, joining the 12th-seeded Paul to give the USA two men's players in the round of eight.

Their advancements mark the first time for the country to place more than one man in the quarterfinals in Paris since Jim Courier and Pete Sampras achieved the feat in 1996. No American male had made it this far at Roland-Garros in any season since Andre Agassi in 2003.