PARIS — Frances Tiafoe made his way into the quarterfinals at the French Open for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Daniel Altmaier of Germany on Sunday night, joining 12th-seeded Tommy Paul to put a pair of American men in the round of eight.

It’s the first time the country placed more than one man in the quarterfinals in Paris since 1996, when Jim Courier and Pete Sampras did it together. Zero men from the United States had made it this far in any year since Andre Agassi in 2003.

And the 15th-seeded Tiafoe — who celebrated his win by twice shouting a phrase that can’t be quoted fully here but included the words “let’s” and “go” — has done it without dropping a set.

Quite a turnaround for a guy whose big-strike tennis long suffered on the slow red clay. He began his French Open career with a 0-6 record before getting his first win in 2022 and one more last year.

“On clay, I get a little more passive than on other surfaces, because the court doesn’t help me play as fast as I would like,” said Tiafoe, twice a semifinalist on the hard courts of the U.S. Open, where speedy shots are rewarded and the loud crowds and bright lights tend to bring out his best. “Patience is a thing I struggle with.”

Next up is a matchup on Tuesday against No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who defeated No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Last year, Musetti won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics held at Roland-Garros and reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon..

Paul, a semifinalist at the Australian Open in 2023, was never really troubled Sunday during his 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win against 25th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia in less than two hours. Paul now goes up against No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, the defending champion who got past No. 13 Ben Shelton of the U.S. 7-6 (8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Elina Svitolina saved three match points and came back to eliminate 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, earning her fifth French Open quarterfinal appearance.

The 13th-seeded Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist — getting that far twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open — but is 0-4 so far in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros.

She’ll try to go a step further on Tuesday, when she will face three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who trailed by a set and a break before eliminating 2022 Wimbledon champion Elina Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The other quarterfinal on the top half of the women’s bracket will be No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka against No. 8 Zheng Qinwen. Sabalenka, a three-time major champ, used a five-game run to take control from 5-all in the first set and eliminated No. 16 Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. 7-5, 6-3, while 2024 Olympic gold medalist Zheng was a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3 winner over No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova.