Hubert Hurkacz showed no mercy to his former doubles partner Jan Choinski as he sent the Briton packing in the second round at Wimbledon.
German-born Choinski, the son of an English ballet dancer, partnered with the 17th seed up until 2016, but could not match him on Court 18 as Hurkacz won 6-4 6-4 7-6 (3).
Defeat brings to an end Choinski’s first appearance in SW19 having been given a wild card, leaving just four Britons remaining in the draw.
Still, it has been a few days to remember for the 27-year-old, ranked 164 in the world, as he enjoyed a maiden grand slam win on Monday when he beat world number 56 Dusan Lajovic.
Choinski was always up against it, saving break points early on, but Hurkacz, who made the 2021 semi-finals at SW19, kept knocking on the door and crucially made the breakthrough at 4-4 and then served the first set out.
The second set followed an identical pattern with a key break at 4-4 putting Hurkacz in firm control.
After saving several break points throughout the third set, Choinski’s moment came at 6-5 when he had three set points at 0-40 on Hurkacz’s serve, but he could not convert them.
With that his chance disappeared as the Pole dominated the tie-break to seal a straight-sets win and book his spot in the third round.
'It's not healthy' – Gauff warns tennis over late finishes after Djokovic thriller
Coco Gauff warned tennis must do more to protect player welfare after Novak Djokovic's remarkable late finish at the French Open on Saturday.
Djokovic edged a five-set thriller with Lorenzo Musetti, battling into the early hours of Sunday in Paris at Roland-Garros.
The third-round marathon finished at 3:08 a.m. local time in the French capital, shattering the tournament's previous latest finish of 1:25 a.m.
After overcoming Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the quarter-finals, Gauff lamented the late start times and the problems it could cause for both men and women's players.
"I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really at 3 a.m. [you're] probably not going to bed until 5 a.m. at the earliest, maybe 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.," said 2023 US Open women's champion Gauff.
"I definitely think it's not healthy.
"For the health and safety of the players, it would be in the sport's best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time."
The ATP and WTA tours brought a new ruling in January that matches cannot start after 11 pm local time.
That legislation does not apply to the four majors, though, and hits harder for the men playing best-of-five encounters.
World number one Iga Swiatek, who overcame Anastasi Potapova on Sunday, echoed Gauff's sentiment.
"It's not easy to play and it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match," said Swiatek.
"[Change] is not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us."
Alcaraz advances to third straight Roland-Garros quarter-final
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to his third successive French Open quarter-final, after a commanding straight-sets victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
The Spaniard, who has dropped just a single set across his four matches so far, wrapped up a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 success in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Auger-Aliassime, appearing in round four for the second time in three years at Roland-Garros, was affected by a groin issue during the second set, but the 21st seed was no match for an inspired Alcaraz.
After the pair exchanged breaks early in the opening set, the third seed broke in game eight on the way to drawing first blood.
Alcaraz then stole the advantage in the second set when he broke to 15 in game five, and followed suit in the ninth to double his lead.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was going from strength to strength, and raced into a 4-0 lead in set three, before wrapping up another dominant win that sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Data Debrief: Three in a row for Carlitos
Aged 21 years and 28 days old, Alcaraz is the youngest player to reach the French Open quarter-finals in three consecutive years since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008).
The Spaniard has now won each of the last 36 matches he has played at grand slams against players ranked outside the ATP's top 20.
Tsitsipas sets up Alcaraz clash with last-16 win over Arnaldi
Stefanos Tsitsipas set up a French Open quarter-final clash with Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, recovering to beat Matteo Arnaldi in four sets after losing the opening set.
Tsitsipas – a beaten finalist at Roland Garros in 2021 – looked to be in a hole when Arnaldi took the opener within a comfortable 36 minutes, the Italian then racing into a 5-3 second-set lead.
However, the ninth seed saved three set points before flipping the momentum of the match with a crucial break, eventually closing out a 74-minute set in a tie-break.
The Greek produced a composed performance from there as he powered to a 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2 victory, with Arnaldi's intensity dropping after he had dictated proceedings with some pinpoint groundstrokes early in the encounter.
Tsitsipas could now reach the French Open semi-finals for just the third time, though he will face a daunting task on Tuesday against Alcaraz, after the Wimbledon champion breezed past Felix Auger Aliassime in straight sets.
Data Debrief: Best clay season yet for Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas entered the French Open in good form, having claimed the Monte-Carlo Masters title before falling just short in the final at Barcelona.
This is now his joint-best start to a clay-court season, having won 17 of his first 20 matches on the surface in 2024, a feat he has only previously achieved in 2021 and 2022. Only in 2021 (23) has he won more matches on clay in a single season overall.
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