Big names crash but Italians shine on

Otago Daily Times

4 days ago

Italians Jasmine Paolini and Lorenzo Musetti lit up a damp day at Roland Garros, moving into the third round at the French Open, while twice runner-up Casper Ruud made a shock exit.
Unheralded Matteo Gigante kept the Italian tricolour flying high on Wednesday afternoon, with the biggest win of his career as the qualifier sent former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas tumbling out of the year's second Grand Slam.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz endured a minor scare but got past unseeded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan before women's title holder Iga Swiatek dismantled Briton Emma Raducanu to keep her bid for a sixth major title on track.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka started off on the wrong foot before trampling Swiss Jil Teichmann into the Parisian red clay while fellow Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina mowed down wild card Iva Jovic.
Fourth seed Paolini, a surprise runner-up last year, barely put a foot wrong on Court Philippe Chatrier as she brushed aside Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3 6-3 after paying homage to the venue's greatest champion Rafa Nadal.
The diminutive Italian, who trains with Nadal's former mentor Marc Lopez, touched the newly installed footprint of the Spanish great on centre court before delivering a polished display in front of a sparse crowd.
"It was great to play again there," said Paolini.
"It's an amazing court and I'm happy how I played, because I played better than the first round which is good. I'm just happy about the performance."
Musetti continued his claycourt resurgence with a clinical 6-4 6-0 6-4 dismantling of Colombian lucky loser Daniel Galan on Court Simonne Mathieu.
The eighth seed, a finalist in Monte Carlo and semi-finalist in Madrid and Rome, overcame patchy weather to extend his recent successes on clay.
"It was a solid performance from the beginning until the end," said Musetti, whose confidence has soared since reaching the Monte Carlo final last month.
"After that, I felt like another player. The results in Madrid and Rome confirmed this step forward."
He was joined in the next round by Gigante, who beat 2021 runner-up and 20th seed Tsitsipas 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4, leaving the Greek player blaming his own immaturity after his earliest French Open exit in seven years.
TRICKY SITUATION
Alcaraz has a wise head on his shoulders at 22 and showed plenty of composure in a tricky situation on his return to Court Philippe Chatrier to seal a 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over Marozsan, who beat him in Rome two years ago.
"I've done really great things on this court. I've had great moments and some bad moments, which I've learned from," he said.
"I love playing here. It fits pretty well with my tennis, every time I step on this court I show good tennis."
Seventh seed Ruud has also enjoyed his Roland Garros centre court outings after twice making the final but his latest quest for a maiden major title unravelled as he fell 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 to Portugal's Nuno Borges.
The Norwegian appeared in control after claiming the opening set but faded as soon as Borges took command, with Ruud needing a medical timeout for a knee injury before being blanked in the fourth set.
The medical staff were on hand again when Bosnian Damir Dzumhur suffered a nasty fall in his match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard but recovered to outlast the big-serving Frenchman 7-6(4) 6-3 4-6 6-4.
China's Zheng Qinwen, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion on these courts, powered past Emiliana Arango of Colombia 6-2 6-3 as the eighth seed's big-hitting game proved too much for the world number 85.
She faces Canadian 18-year-old qualifier Victoria Mboko, who extended her fairytale run with a 6-4 6-4 win over Germany's Eva Lys in her Grand Slam debut.
Swiatek made light work of former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, sealing a 6-1 6-2 victory and stretching her winning run in Paris to 23 consecutive matches.
The world number five, looking to become the first woman in the professional era to claim four consecutive titles at Roland Garros, has beaten Raducanu in all five of their meetings in straight sets.
Sabalenka, who is looking to dethrone Swiatek, was broken early in her match with Swiss Teichmann but found her range to complete a 6-3 6-1 win.
Kazakh Rybakina won 6-3 6-3 against American Jovic, whose compatriot Caroline Dolehide was beaten 5-7 6-3 6-3 by 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko.
The United States had reason to cheer though when Frances Tiafoe eased past Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-3 6-1 while Tommy Paul came back from the brink of defeat to beat Marton Fucsovics 4-6 2-6 6-3 7-5 6-4.
Emilio Nava was unable to punch his ticket into the next round, however, falling 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 to 10th seed Holger Rune in the night match.