Sawt Falasteen - Frustrated Rublev knocked out of French Open

Rublev, a 10-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, slipped to a 7-6 (8/6), 6-2, 6-4 defeat against world number 35 Arnaldi on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Arnaldi will face either former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas or China's Zhang Zhizhen in the last 16.

"It's incredible, I think I played the best tennis in my life," said Arnaldi. "I wasn't even expecting it.

"He (Rublev) didn't play his best tennis for sure, but I used my best tactics to put him under pressure."

The 23-year-old has matched his previous best run at a Slam event, when he reached the US Open fourth round last year before losing to Carlos Alcaraz.

Rublev, who won the Madrid Open title last month, missed a set point in the opening tie-break before becoming increasingly agitated.

He repeatedly threw his racquet to the ground during the match and then hit himself in the knee with it in the third set.

Rublev never regained his composure and Arnaldi closed out the match with a love service hold.

It is the second straight year Rublev has lost in the third round to an Italian on the same court, after blowing a two-set lead against Lorenzo Sonego 12 months ago.

I.Yassin--SF-PST