Jannik Sinner took time to get his engine going before motoring into the French Open quarter-finals while defending champion Iga Swiatek raced through on Sunday as scheduling at the Grand Slam came under scrutiny after Novak Djokovic's overnight marathon.
Second seed Sinner kept his hopes of taking Djokovic's top ranking alive with a battling 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 win over local favourite Corentin Moutet in front of partisan fans on Court Philippe Chatrier.
With Roland Garros still abuzz after an epic duel where Djokovic prevailed after the tournament's latest finish at just past 3am (local time), Swiatek provided a masterclass to beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 in 40 minutes.
American Coco Gauff was not as ruthless as her Polish rival, but equally efficient, powering past Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1 6-2 in an hour before Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova mowed down Serbian Olga Danilovic 6-4 6-2.
Ons Jabeur continued her quest to win an elusive maiden Grand Slam by taking out Danish player Clara Tauson 6-4 6-4 before breaking into a song with her fans as matches were wrapped up in double quick time.
It was a largely a similar tune on the men's side too, as third seed Carlos Alcaraz thumped Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-3 6-1 to set up a rematch of his 2023 quarter-final with Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Matteo Arnaldi 3-6 7-6(4) 6-2 6-2.
"I love these kinds of matches," Alcaraz said. "Hopefully the crowd enjoys (it) as much as I'm going to. Let's see how it's going to be."
Grigor Dimitrov later showed it was never too late to break new ground, as the in-form Bulgarian 10th seed outlasted Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5) 6-4 7-6(3) to reach his first quarter-final at the French Open and complete his set of Grand Slam last eight appearances.
Alcaraz's entertaining win meant the entire day session for singles on Court Philippe Chatrier was completed in exactly four hours - 29 minutes less than Djokovic needed to defeat Italian Lorenzo Musetti in a five-setter overnight.
CALL TO RETHINK SCHEDULE
The late finish came under criticism as Swiatek and Gauff said that Grand Slams needed a scheduling rethink.
There were more complaints on social media as fans were left twiddling their thumbs for hours before the night session, where Sinner sent the last local hope Moutet packing.
"I was always one of the players that said that we should start a little bit earlier," Swiatek said of the Djokovic match.
"I don't know if fans are watching these matches if they have to go to work next day when the matches are finishing at two or three a.m."
Organisers were forced to add a match on the main showcourt before Djokovic played due to rain delays.
"It's a complicated thing, but 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," Gauff said.
"I was in real trouble on the court and he was playing some really amazing tennis. I didn't know really what to do," the 37-year-old said.
"From both hands, he was getting a lot of balls back, winners from both corners. Good serves running every ball down the court. It didn't feel great playing him that third set and the beginning of the fourth.
"The (crowd) start chanting my name and I just felt a great new wave of willpower and energy. I really needed that push, I really needed that energy. I think I was a different player from that moment onwards."
Defeat would have ended the Serbian's quest for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam trophy and resulted in him losing the No 1 ranking to Musetti's compatriot Jannik Sinner later this month.
Djokovic might have had grounds for complaint after organisers had wedged another contest into the evening schedule, pushing the completion of his match to 3.06am - the latest ever finish at the French Open.
The three-times French Open champion preferred to focus instead on the quality of the five-set contest.
"I don't want to get into it. I have my opinions but I think there are great things to talk about in this match today. Both Lorenzo and my performances stand out so I don't want to be talking about the schedule. I think some things could have been handled a different way but there's also a beauty in winning a match (so late)."
Djokovic, who said on court that he would not able to sleep because of the adrenaline rush, will be back in action on Monday in the fourth round against Argentine 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo.
