PARIS — Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev rallied from 4-1 down in the fifth set to beat 26th-seeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) and advance to the fourth round at the French Open.
Zverev, who won the Italian Open last month, has reached the semifinals at the past three French Opens and avoided his earliest exit at Roland Garros since losing in the first round in 2017.
Zverev’s trial in Germany for allegedly causing bodily harm to a woman began on Friday. The prosecution accuses Zverev of pushing his ex-partner against a wall and choking her during an argument in Berlin in May 2020.
Griekspoor fell short of reaching the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time and his record against top-five players dropped to 0-11.
In other men’s third-round play, former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev won 7-6 (4), 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 against Tomas Machac and 21st-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime beat No.15-seeded American Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
Their match was halted by rain on Friday night. Shelton was bothered by a left shoulder issue and had it worked on by a trainer.
“Playing a set last night with soaked balls, muddy balls, it kind of just, I guess, aggravated my shoulder a little bit,” Shelton said. “But I went out there and did what I could today and gave 100%.”
His exit was followed several hours later by that of another American, No. 14 Tommy Paul, who was beaten by No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. That left one U.S. man left in the bracket: No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who outlasted unseeded Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 5-7, 6-3 at night to earn a debut appearance in the fourth round in Paris.
Fritz, who has been to the quarterfinals at each of the other three majors, is the first player from his country to reach the men’s round of 16 at Roland Garros since 2020.
It was clear during the restart of Shelton’s match that he was not able to produce his usual high-powered serves — even before his left shoulder was massaged by a trainer. Auger-Aliassime, a Canadian who got to the U.S. Open semifinals in 2021, claimed Saturday’s initial five games to close out the opening set and lead 4-0 in the next.
“I felt like my intentions were clear, and my execution was right, and I was able to do what I wanted to do,” said Auger-Aliassime, who now plays No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, “and at the same time, get free points from his side and able to return his serve pretty well.”
For the fifth consecutive day, rain interrupted play. Shortly before 1 p.m. rain came again with a chilly wind and the temperature dropped to an unappealing 14 degrees (57 F).
Medvedev wore leg warmers during his first set against Machac, who beat Novak Djokovic last week in the Geneva Open semifinals, then removed them for the second set.
There was an unusual moment late in the match when chair umpire Damien Dumusois collected a pigeon that fell onto the court.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.