Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz earned a 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over Fabian Marozsan to book a place in the third round of the French Open on Tuesday.
Alcaraz started strongly but fell short in the second set to go down 4-6 before rallying round to secure a comfortable victory.
It was Alcaraz’s 17th victory in 18 matches on clay this year as he looks to become the first man since Rafael Nadal in 2020 to retain the Roland Garros title.
He is also looking forward to adding another title to the Monte Carlo and Rome victories earlier in the season.
Alcaraz admitted the second set was difficult but was excited to scale through.
He said: “In the second set, he started to play much better and he was really aggressive. He didn’t miss at all so it was a little difficult to deal with his game in the second set.
“But I’m really happy I stayed strong and refreshed myself. I started to play better and better which helped me have a really good last two sets. Sometimes it is difficult to have fun on the court, I have to suffer.
“It depends on the opponent as well. But most of the time I am trying to not think about anything else but enjoy playing and being in this kind of court. I want to enjoy when I step onto court and not think about anything else. I want to play good tennis and make the people enjoy my matches.”
Alcaraz will now take on Damir Dzumhur in the third round of the tournament on Thursday.
Casper Ruud crashed out of the tournament following a 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 defeat to Nuno Borges.
Italian Lorenzo Musetti earned a straight forward 6-4 6-0 6-4 victory over Daniel Galan.
He rued the weather conditions but was excited to advance to the next round.
Musetti said: “It was a solid performance from the beginning until the end. I had some ups and downs during the first and the third set. Definitely I cannot complain about the level that I’m showing.
“The conditions today were not easy but I managed to find a way to show my tennis and my game. I think we made a great, great match.”
In the women’s category, Jasmine Paolini defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3 6-3 to advance to the third round of the 2025 French Open.
Victoria Mboko qualified for the third round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Eva Lys.
The Canadian teenager qualified for the tournament without dropping a set, she will now take on eighth seed Zheng Qinwen of China.
