Alexander

Amid the excitement of youth, world number three Zverev underlined his status as favourite for the men’s singles title with a clinical straight-set win over Jesper de Jong, which sent him through to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the sixth consecutive year.

The second seed, 29, has long been earmarked as a future Grand Slam champion but despite reaching finals at three of the four majors – and leading Carlos Alcaraz by two sets to one at the French Open in 2024 – he is still searching for his maiden title.

However, with world number one Jannik Sinner and Djokovic both eliminated in the first week, plus defending champion Alcaraz absent because of injury, the German’s route to the title has opened up.

De Jong, ranked more than 100 places below Zverev, went toe-to-toe with the heavy-hitting German in the opener, racing into a 3-0 lead and later leading 3-0 in the tie-break before Zverev reeled off seven consecutive points to take the set.

Zverev had to be patient in the second, waiting until the 10th game to convert one of only two break-point opportunities offered to him, but was too strong for his opponent in a 24-minute third set, completing a 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1 win.

Relentless on serve in the final two sets, he conceded just six points across nine service games while also showing his formidable touch at the net, winning 29 of 38 points.

“It was a bit difficult in the beginning,” Zverev said on court. “I didn’t start strong and he started really fast. But once I found my rhythm, I was comfortable.

“My game is there. It’s about showing it on the match courts.”

Zverev is one of only three top-10 seeds left in the draw, one of just two players with experience of playing in a major final and is competing on a surface on which he has won nine of his 24 ATP titles.

Perhaps most crucially, while many of his rivals have battled through multiple five-set matches, he has won three of his four matches in straight sets.

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres and Liverpool forward Alexander Isak have been named in Sweden’s World Cup squad.

However, the summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States has come too soon for Tottenham forward Dejan Kulusevski, who misses out having not played this season because of a knee injury.

Sweden coach Graham Potter said it was difficult to leave out the 26-year-old.

“A very, very difficult decision in terms of where he [Kulusevski] has been and what he’s done over the last year, where he’s at in terms of his rehab with four and a half weeks to go to that first game,” Potter told a news conference.

Isak, 26, has also had an injury-hit campaign and has only started eight league matches for Liverpool since his £125m British record transfer from Newcastle last summer.

“We obviously hope he finishes the season in Liverpool with some game time,” added Potter. “Our challenge is to get Alex in the best moment of the season and for him to hit top form, because if he does, he’s a world-class player.”

Sweden endured a miserable qualifying campaign, finishing bottom of their group with two points, but their performance in the Nations League gave them a second chance and wins over Ukraine and Poland in the play-offs took them to the finals.

“It’s incredibly exciting – a huge honour for me,” said Potter, who became Sweden manager in October. “The positive response from our supporters has been fantastic, and now we’re looking forward to creating more memories together during the World Cup.”

Gyokeres and Isak are two of 11 British-based players in the squad, which also includes goalkeepers Viktor Johansson (Stoke) and Jacob Widell Zetterstrom (Derby) and defenders Hjalmar Ekdal (Burnley), Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds) and Victor Lindelof (Aston Villa).

Midfielders Yasin Ayari and Lucas Bergvall, who play for Brighton and Tottenham respectively have also been named, as have Newcastle winger Anthony Elanga and Celtic forward Benjamin Nygren.

Sweden are in Group F and play Tunisia in Monterrey, Mexico on 14 June (03:00 BST, 15 June) before two games in the United States – against the Netherlands in Houston on 20 June and Japan in Dallas five days later (00:00 BST, 26 June).

Less than a year on from the day Liverpool won the Premier League title, Arne Slot’s side find themselves in a position where their season rests on qualifying for the Champions League.

For Slot, perhaps his future does too. There will be no silverware and the Dutchman has already said failing to have Champions League football next season would mean this would “definitely not be an acceptable season”.

This was Liverpool’s 17th defeat of the campaign but it came after arguably one of their better performances. Until Ousmane Dembele’s 72nd-minute strike for Paris St-Germain, Liverpool battled admirably against the champions of Europe.

“It was an intense match between two teams who played really good football,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique.

For Liverpool, there is no shame in getting knocked out by this PSG side. Luis Enrique’s side are a joy to watch and play with confidence when in possession.

But the worry for Liverpool is they have gone backwards.

When these two sides met in the Champions League last 16 last season, PSG were the better side across the two legs but they needed a penalty shootout to knock Liverpool out.

This time around, they outclassed Slot’s side in Paris and, while there were spells on Tuesday night when Liverpool threatened, the final scoreline of 4-0 across two legs was fair.

“Of course we are very disappointed because I think there were parts of the second half where you could feel ‘if we could just score now, this could become a very special night’,” said Slot.

“But the future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We have showed we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium. To be the dominant team, not many teams can be dominant against PSG and create as many chances as we did,” he added.

At Anfield, Liverpool’s xG was 1.94 compared with the 0.18 at the Parc des Princes last week.

So there were positives to take, but there is still plenty to be done before they can be considered serious contenders on the European stage again.

After the match, Mohamed Salah waved goodbye to the Anfield crowd after playing his last game for Liverpool in the Champions League.

Now the question is whether Slot and Liverpool will be back in the Champions League next season.