Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Zachary Svajda was the first American to qualify for the fourth round of the men's singles
ByElizabeth BotcherbyBBC Sport journalist- Published28 minutes ago
Unseeded American Zachary Svajda dedicated his French Open victory over Francisco Cerundolo to his late father, after reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time on what would have been his 61st birthday.
The 23-year-old, who led by two sets to love, was taken to a decider by the Argentine 25th seed and fought back from being broken in the third game of the fifth set to win 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 in a little over three hours.
The match was one of eight men's singles third-round ties to go to five sets - a record in the Open era.
Svajda, making his debut in the main draw at Roland Garros, was visibly emotional after completing the win, dropping on to the clay before pointing to the sky.
His father Tom, a tennis coach in San Diego, was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and passed away in October.
"It's like I'm dreaming right now. It's crazy," said Svajda, who will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the quarter-finals.
"Today was so special because it's my dad's birthday. I was thinking of that. I was nervous. I know he's proud of me, and I wanted to perform well and win."
Defending champion Gauff out of French Open
- Published1 hour ago
Ukrainian makes impassioned speech after facing Russian
- Published4 hours ago
French Open Daily: Defending Champion Coco Gauff exits
He added: "When I got that last point, I just teared up and fell to the ground like, 'oh my gosh, what is happening?'."
On the advice from his dad which helped inspire him to victory, he told TNT Sports: "Every time I step on court, just enjoy it and believe in yourself. Knowing that I can beat anyone on any given day. I thought about that today going on court and it's incredible."
Prior to this year, Svajda had only won two Grand Slam matches, both at the US Open. The second, which he achieved last August after coming through qualifying, set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Five months later, in his first tournament since his dad's passing, he came through qualifying once again to make his main-draw bow at the Australian Open.
As the world number 85, he qualified automatically for Roland Garros, but arrived in Paris with just one ATP Tour-level win on clay in 2026.
Fast forward seven days and he has battled past Alexei Popyrin and Adam Walton in four sets before upsetting Cerundolo to rise to 59th in the live rankings - and no-one is more surprised than him.
"The first time I played on a red clay court was probably two years ago, when I was 21. I played some green clay back in the US, but not until I was 19," Svajda said.
"I probably played 10 or 15 matches on clay my whole career. It's still new to me, but it's paying off right now."
Five-set epics become new normal
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Juan Manuel Cerundolo has been on court for more than 12 hours across the first three rounds
On Thursday, Argentina's Juan Manuel Cerundolo - brother of Francisco - was on court for a little over three and a half hours as he came from two sets down to beat an ailing Jannik Sinner in the second round.
Two days later, the world number 56 was involved in another five-set epic, beating Spain's Martin Landaluce 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-8) to advance to the second week at a major for the first time.
Lasting five hours and 58 minutes, it is the third-longest match in Roland Garros history and the longest since fifth-set tie-breaks were introduced in 2022.
His fourth-round opponent is Italian Matteo Berrettini, who contested five tie-breaks and took five hours and 13 minutes to beat Francisco Comesana. He won the final-set shootout 15-13.
Berrettini, 30, is playing in the French Open for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in 2021, and his first major since last year's Wimbledon due to injury.
Unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi clocked in two minutes shy of the five-hour mark is his win over Raphael Collignon, with Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca - who downed Novak Djokovic - Rafael Jodar, Jesper de Jong, and Casper Ruud contesting marathon matches on Friday.
Cobolli and 11th seed Andrey Rublev were the only players to advance in straight sets.
"This is just outrageous," Annabel Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Live's French Open Daily podcast.
"It's not just the physical side of it, it's the mental capacity to keep focusing for that amount of time while you're sprinting back and forth.
"I think the crowds that came here today have been absolutely treated to some spectacular drama and entertainment."
