French Open tennis - Stefanos Tsitsipas storms through to quarter-finals with win over Pablo Carreno Busta
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Updated 06/06/2021 at 19:42 GMT
Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas required just two hours and seven minutes to complete a fine victory over hard-working Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta and he will now take his place in the last eight in Paris. Tsitsipas won through in straight sets, 6-3 6-2 7-5, on Court Philippe Chatrier and can be counted among the favourites to challenge reigning champion Rafael Nadal in the latter stages.
'He's already had a warning!' - Tsitsipas in towel drama, almost gets punished
Stefanos Tsitsipas was utterly dominant as he stormed through to the quarter-finals of the French Open with a straight sets win over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The fifth seed required just two hours and seven minutes to complete a fine 6-3 6-2 7-5 victory over the hard-working Spaniard and he will now take his place in the last eight in Paris.
Tsitsipas, who is on the opposite side of the draw to both 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic, has a wonderful opportunity of reaching the final on Sunday.
Carreno Busta is a two-time quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, but got off to a terrible start as he was broken in his opening service game. And it only got worse from there.
After losing the opening set, he surrendered his first two service games of the second and was soon left staring at a near-impossible comeback.
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Highlights: Tsitsipas cruises past Carreno Busta into quarters
It looked as though he might restore some pride after racing into a 4-1 lead in the third set, but he then proceeded to lose six of the next seven games as his challenge ended with a whimper.
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'A roaring start' - Tsitsipas breaks immediately against Carreno Busta
Tsitsipas did not have everything his own way after he was involved in a very strange and amusing towel drama as he almost received a punishment and had to sprint away.
The Greek found himself desperately having to sprint back across the court to avoid losing a serve after walking over to the other side to grab his towel.
It was an amusing race against time from the Greek, who had already received a warning for taking too long, and he only just made it in the nick of time.
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'I love the attention' - Tsitsipas relishing having fans at Roland Garros
Eurosport expert Jo Durie, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 1983, explained what was going on.
Well he's gone to the towel on the other side, he's got to come all the way back, he's already had a warning!
"He's going to lose his first serve... he had to sprint. Oh dear!"
Eurosport commentator Simon Reed added: "He's suddenly remembered! That was comical."
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Tsitsipas with incredible backhand winner against Carreno Busta
Tsitsipas will next take on either Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev or Cristian Garin in the last eight.
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Watch all the action from the 2021 French Open live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app with 13-time champion Rafael Nadal eyeing a remarkable 14th title and 2020 Roland Garros sensation Iga Swiatek aiming to replicate her stunning triumph.
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