German tennis ace Alexander Zverev is still on target to defend his Olympic title as he safely navigated soaring heat on Tuesday 30 July at Stade Roland Garros to reach the third round of Paris 2024.

USA star Coco Gauff was not so lucky as the world No. 2 exited the women’s singles tournament in a 7-6 (7), 6-2 third-round defeat to Donna Vekic.

The victory meant Vekic would be the first Croatian woman to reach the Olympic singles quarter-finals since 1996.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek survived a mighty onslaught from Wang Xiyu of the People’s Republic of China to become the first Polish tennis player ever to reach the quarter-finals stage at the Olympics.

Swiatek cruised into the second game of the contest before Wang dug her heels in threatening to send the match into the third set. But the four-time French Open champion found the edge for a hard-fought 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Should she make it all the way to the top of the podium, Swiatek would become only the second player behind Steffi Graf in 1988 to win Roland Garros and the Olympics in the same year.

Wang’s compatriot Qinwen Zheng produced a gutsy performance to outplay the USA’s Emma Navarro 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in the longest match at this year’s tournament so far to make it into the quarter-finals. In doing so, Qinwen will become only the second Chinese singles player to reach this late stage of the Olympics after Li Na in Beijing 2008.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who will retire after the Olympics, continued her spectacular run after beating Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3. The Rio 2016 silver medallist marched into the quarter-finals feeling bullish about her chances of more Olympic success.

Recently crowned Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková of Czechia triumphed over Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy came up short in her third-round clash against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.