WORLD number 186 Daniel Altmaier had the biggest win of his career on Saturday, taking down seventh seed Matteo Berrettini 6-2 7-6 6-4 to progress to the round of 16 at Roland Garros. Berrettini doubled Altmaier’s number of unforced errors (42-21) struggling to find any form of rhythm on court.

“I was struggling to find the right attitude, the right energy, I was nervous,” Berrettini said. “When I tried to calm down, I was too calm. I was struggling [in] every single aspect of the game [and] I think he was playing really, really well. He really deserved the win.”

This tournament is Altmaier’s Grand Slam debut, making his run so far quite incredible. The 22-year-old will face Pablo Carreno Busta in the next round, who defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-4 in their all-Spaniard clash. Carreno Busta hit an impressive 65 winners to go with 11 aces in the victory. He is coming off his second US Open semi-final appearance last month and appears to be full of confidence.

In other results, world number one Novak Djokovic breezed past Columbian Daniel Elahi 6-0 6-3 6-2. Djokovic broke seven times in the clash and won an impressive 54 per cent of receiving points overall. He has not lost a set in the tournament so far, but he is yet to play anyone ranked inside the top 50. It will get tougher from here, with number 15 seed Karen Khachanov awaiting Djokovic in the next round. Khachanov pushed past 20th seed Cristian Garin 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2 in two and a half hours.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov were both up two sets to love when their unseeded opponents retired hurt, and will now face each other in the fourth round. Since Tsitsipas’ first-round scare against Jaume Munar where he was down two sets to love, he has rallied nicely to win eight consecutive sets and reach the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the second straight year, something he is quite proud of.

“Being able to compete in a second week gives me a lot of confidence,” he said. “It feels great, you feel like you’re part of a prestige. I’ve been putting a lot of hard work in every single match trying to rise my level, play up to my expectations. I’m very glad that I am where I am today.”

Neither Tsitsipas nor Dimitrov have progressed past Round 4 of the French Open before, and with some big names including Berrettini, Daniil Medvedev and Denis Shapovalov already eliminated in the top half of the draw, tis looms as a major opportunity for both players.

One star that is yet to show any weaknesses is 13th seed Andrey Rublev, who had a strong 6-3 6-2 6-3 victory over former Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson. Rublev lost just four points on first serve and committed only 16 unforced errors to Anderson’s 33. He is now on an eight-match winning streak after capturing the Hamburg title in the lead-up. An argument could be made that he is, alongside Tsitsipas, Djokovic’s leading challenger in the top half of the draw. Hungarian Marton Fucsovics will be Rublev’s next opponent, as he defeated Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 7-5 6-1 6-3 in just over two hours.

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