Canadian teen Mboko falls to Olympic champion Zheng at French Open

Canadian teen Victoria Mboko's breakthrough Grand Slam run came to an end Friday at the French Open.

The 18-year-old from Toronto was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in third-round action at Roland Garros.

Mboko, ranked No. 333 at the start of the year, had surged into the spotlight with three straight wins in qualifying and two more in the main draw — all in straight sets — before running into Zheng, an Australian Open finalist who won Olympic gold in singles last summer on these same Paris clay courts.

Zheng won 70 per cent of her first-serve points and saved six of eight break points.

Mboko was broken four times and won only 38 per cent of her second-serve points.

Still, it was a major step forward for Mboko in her Grand Slam main-draw debut. She'll officially enter the WTA's top 100 when the tournament wraps.

Later Friday, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva fell 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 to Slovakia's Tereza Mihalikova and Great Britain's Olivia Nicholls.

Fernandez and Putintseva converted six of nine break chances but managed to save just one of six against them in the second-round women's doubles match.

Montreal's Gabriel Diallo and Great Britain's Jacob Fearnley lost in second-round men's doubles action.

The pair fell 6-2, 6-3 to second-seeded Henry Patten of Great Britain and Harri Heliovaara of Finland.

Patten and Heliovaara committed just six unforced errors to Diallo and Fearnley's 16, converted four of six break-point chances and saved both of their opponents'.

Swiatek, Sabalenka reach 4th round without dropping a set

Defending champion Iga Swiatek joined No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round and neither player has dropped a set.

Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner who has only once reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros, beat Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier, where the hot weather contrasted with previous days.

"The ball flies much faster," Sabalenka said. "The bounces are much higher."

Swiatek, who has won four of her five major titles at Roland-Garros, defeated Jaqueline Cristian 6-2, 7-5 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to extend her French Open winning streak to 23 matches. A second set lasting 1 hour, 16 minutes, tested the Pole, who yelled in relief after winning on her second match point. Swiatek had 20 winners and 21 unforced errors.

"She used her chances and just went for it," said Swiatek, who enjoyed temperatures which reached 29 degrees (84 F). "For sure I don't mind. On clay it gives the balls the extra bounce."

Sabalenka and Swiatek have been in contrasting form.

Sabalenka has reached six singles finals this year, the most for a woman entering Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2013.

But Swiatek is looking to reach her first final anywhere since winning her third straight French Open title, and fourth overall, a year ago. No woman has won four straight French Opens in the Open era.

Asked who was under the most pressure to win this year — her or Swiatek — Sabalenka said, jokingly: "Let's just leave it on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row?"

Alcaraz struggles but moves on 

Alcaraz was expected to sizzle in the cool of the evening but the second seed found himself in hot water after his level dipped against Dzumhur before recovering to seal a 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4 win and book a clash with Ben Shelton.

"It was under control during the first two sets, and then I don't know what happened," Alcaraz said.

"I think he started to play, but I let him get into the match, get into a good rhythm. I let him get into his game and I didn't know what to do.

"I was a break down in the fourth, and I just tried to calm myself a little bit, think much clearer, and try to do the good things again. Just happy to take the chances he gave me in the fourth set and play great tennis at the end."

What else happened at the French Open on Friday?

No. 4-seeded Jasmine Paolini, last year's runner-up, beat Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4, 6-1, and No. 12 Elena Rybakina won against 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko.

In men's third-round play, No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy beat Mariano Navone, No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark beat Frenchman Quentin Halys in five sets, and 12th-seeded American Tommy Paul did the same against No. 24 Karen Khachanov.

No. 15 Frances Tiafoe beat No. 23 Sebastian Korda 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-4 in an all-American matchup, joining Paul and No. 13 Ben Shelton to give the U.S. three men in the French Open fourth round for the first time since 1995.

If qualifier Ethan Quinn wins on Saturday, there would be four American men in Week 2 in Paris for the first time since 1991. Shelton won against Matteo Gigante 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 25 Alexei Popyrin of Australia also advanced.

Who is on the schedule at Roland-Garros on Saturday?

Novak Djokovic plays in the night session on Saturday much to his frustration as he hoped to play earlier so he could watch the Champions League final in Germany between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan on TV.

The 24-time major winner, who recently won his 100th career title, faces qualifier Filip Misolic. If Djokovic wins quickly, though, he may be able to catch the end of the soccer final, which starts at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT). Or possibly extra time.

In remaining third-round men's play, Alexander Zverev — last year's runner-up — takes on Flavio Cobolli on Court Philippe-Chatrier, while No. 1 Jannik Sinner — who beat Zverev in this year's Australian Open final — faces Jiri Lehecka on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Over on Court Simonne-Mathieu, British hope Jack Draper plays 18-year-old rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca. They are followed by Cameron Norrie vs. Jacob Fearnley, guaranteeing a British player in the fourth round.

In remaining third-round women's play, former U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff faces Marie Bouzkova on Court Philippe-Chatrier, and No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the runner-up at last year's U.S. Open, plays former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova earlier on the same court. There is an all-American contest on Court Suzanne-Lenglen between current Australian Open champion Madison Keys and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who won that major in 2020, the year she went on to lose in the French Open final to Swiatek.