Alcaraz overcomes blip to progress
French Open 2025
Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros
Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame a blip in form to beat Fabian Marozsan and reach the French Open third round - but 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas is out.
Spaniard Alcaraz started strongly but dropped the second set before recovering to wrap up a 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-2 win over his Hungarian opponent.
But there was no such fortune for Greek 20th seed Tsitsipas, who was stunned by world number 167 Matteo Gigante of Italy, losing 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4.
Victory was Alcaraz's 17th in 18 matches on clay this year as he looks to become the first man since compatriot Rafael Nadal in 2020 to retain the Roland Garros title.
"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," said the 22-year-old.
"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."
Alcaraz won titles in Monte Carlo and Rome in the build-up to the French Open and mirrored that form at the start as he broke three times to win the first set inside 28 minutes.
Marozsan, looking to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time, broke early in a scrappy second set before fending off the second seed to level.
But Alcaraz - a four-time Grand Slam champion - responded well to breeze through the rest of the match.
He will face unseeded Damir Dzumhur in the third round after the Bosnian's 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 4-6 6-4 win over France's 31st seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Raducanu outclassed by Swiatek at French Open
Paolini sweeps aside Tomljanovic to reach third round
It was another early Grand Slam exit for Tsitsipas, who lost in the 2021 final to Novak Djokovic in an epic five-setter.
The 26-year-old has now failed to make it past the second round in his past four appearances at a major, while it is his earliest defeat at Roland Garros since 2018.
The defeat means Tsitsipas is set to drop outside of the world's top 20 for the first time since August 2018.
By claiming the biggest win of his career, Gigante - who is making his debut at the French Open after going through qualifying - is rewarded with a third-round meeting with American 13th seed Ben Shelton.
Elsewhere, American 12th seed Tommy Paul pulled off an impressive comeback after being two sets down to beat Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 4-6 2-6 6-3 7-5 6-4.
Paul will face Russian 24th seed Karen Khachanov, who booked his place in round three with a 7-5 3-6 7-5 4-6 6-2 win against Austria's Sebastian Ofner.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian eighth seed, went through to the third round with a 6-4 6-0 6-4 win against Colombia's Daniel Galan.
In the men's doubles competition, Jacob Fearnley, who won his first French Open singles match on Monday, safely cruised into the second round alongside Canadian Gabriel Diallo with a 6-0 6-2 win over Nicolas Barrientos and Rithvik Bollipalli of Colombia and India respectively.
Briton Luke Johnson reached the second round of a Grand Slam for just the third time as he and his Dutch partner Sander Arends beat Brazilian-Chile pairing Marcelo Demoliner and Nicolas Jarry 3-6 6-3 7-6 (10-6).
Live scores, results and order of play
Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
23 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Iga Swiatek notches 26th straight win at Roland-Garros, will face Aryna Sabalenka in French Open semifinals
Having been searching for her best form in recent months, Swiatek, who struggled in the previous round, was in total control in the opening set. She was made to work harder by her 13th-seeded Ukrainian rival in the second set, dropping her serve in the fourth game after hitting two straight unforced errors into the net. But Swiatek broke back immediately and took advantage of Svitolina's poor service game to break again with a thunderous forehand return and move up, 6-5. Swiatek sealed the win with a final ace. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Swiatek has won five of the six matches she's played on clay against Sabalenka, including a thrilling three-setter in Spain last year. Advertisement 'The Madrid final against her is one of the best and most exciting finals that I have played,' said Swiatek, who has not won a title or reached a final since her victory at Roland-Garros last year. 'It is always a challenge against Aryna.' Sabalenka is trying to reach her sixth Grand Slam final, and first at Roland-Garros. 'I'm super excited to go out there and to fight and to do everything I need to get the win,' Sabalenka said. Advertisement Sabalenka overcame a shaky start and windy conditions to prevail against Zheng, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and extend her record against the Chinese star to 7-1. The score did not fully reflect the closeness of the quarterfinal, though, with so little separating the rivals. But Sabalenka demonstrated why she was No. 1, making the difference on big points, while Zheng struggled with her serve in tense moments. Sabalenka had lost her most recent match against Zheng last month in Rome, having previously dominated their first six encounters. She said that loss was actually a good thing in the middle of an already exhausting season. 'I was actually glad I lost that match, because I needed a little break before Roland-Garros,' Sabalenka said. 'Today, I was just more fresh. I was ready to battle, I was ready to leave everything I had on court to get this win.' Sabalenka, a three-time major champion, has yet to drop a set in Paris. What else happened at the French Open on Tuesday? Lorenzo Musetti reached his first semifinal at the French Open and second at a Grand Slam tournament. The 23-year-old Italian beat Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, in the same stadium where he won a bronze medal at last year's Olympics. The eighth-seeded Musetti improved to 19-3 this season on red clay. He'll face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Tommy Paul on Friday for a berth in the championship match. Musetti and No. 1 Jannik Sinner gave Italy two male quarterfinalists at Roland-Garros for the first time since 1973. Sinner faces unseeded Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
San Francisco Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Top-ranked Sabalenka plays in front of empty seats at French Open, calls for fairer scheduling
PARIS (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka is the top-ranked player in women's tennis. Yet even that status didn't spare her from competing in front of empty seats at Roland-Garros, something she says isn't fair. The three-time Grand Slam champion faced China's Zheng Qinwen in the first quarterfinal match on Tuesday, beginning at 11 a.m. on Court Philippe-Chatrier. When play began, large sections of the 15,000-seat stadium were still unoccupied — a common sight in the early hours at the French Open, when many ticket holders opt for lunch or arrive later in the day. 'It was a big match and probably would make more sense to put us a little bit later just so more people could watch it,' Sabalenka said after her 7-6 (3), 6-3 win. ' I definitely think that would make more sense to kind of like move our match for a little bit later.' But scheduling more night sessions for women is proving a tough issue to resolve for French Open tournament director Amélie Mauresmo. Since the introduction of night sessions in 2021, only four women's singles matches have been featured in that marquee time slot. Serena Williams played in the first-ever night match at Roland-Garros, but pandemic restrictions meant the stands were empty. No women's matches have been scheduled for the evening session this year, something Sabalenka said should change. Asked about her views on the fact that women haven't played a single night match this year, the player from Belarus said they deserve 'equal treatment.' 'There was a lot of ... great battles, a lot of great matches which would be cool to see as night sessions,' she said. 'Just more people in the stands watching these incredible battles. And just to show ourselves to more people. I definitely agree that we deserve to be put on a bigger stage. Like better timing, more people watching.' There was, however, one upside to the early start for Sabalenka ahead of her semifinal against four-time champion Iga Swiatek. 'I'm happy to finish earlier and then I have a half day off and I can just enjoy the city and do all the things that I have to do,' she said. ___
NBC Sports
37 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Tennis players wake up early or stay up late and it can be anyone's guess what time matches start
PARIS — Some tennis players, like plenty of people in other walks of life, absolutely hate waking up early to go to work. Not so Coco Gauff, who is just fine with competing at any time of day. Indeed, the 2023 U.S. Open champion prefers a morning match time to what she referred to as 'the graveyard shift' — and at Grand Slam tournaments, there often are contests that stretch past midnight. So at the French Open, Gauff probably didn't mind when she saw she was scheduled to face Australian Open champ Madison Keys at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) in an all-American quarterfinal. 'I'm one of those players that doesn't care,' said Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida who is the No. 2 seed in Paris. 'I can get up early. I'm not slow to wake up. Once I get some food in me, I'm pretty much good.' Tennis is an all-day sport at Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open Tennis is an all-day sport, especially at its Grand Slam tournaments, where ticket sales and TV contracts bring in millions and drive decision-making by organizers. The French Open, U.S. Open and Australian Open all have night sessions that can stretch to 2 or 3 a.m.; Wimbledon has an 11 p.m. curfew. So in Paris, for example, a match can start at 11 a.m. or 8:15 p.m. or anywhere in between — or, occasionally, much later. It is a frustrating aspect of the sport for the athletes or for fans hoping to see a certain player. Scheduling at Roland-Garros has been a hot topic, with questions about why the first match every day in the main stadium — before most spectators have arrived, leaving thousands of empty seats — involves women, and why the popular night session exclusively has gone to men. The primetime slot that hasn't been offered to any women in Paris since one match in 2023 often means extra attention and exposure. It also can mean staying up past one's bedtime. Madison Keys is done with the night-owl life 'If I could never play at 1 a.m. ever again for the rest of my life, I would be so happy,' No. 7 seed Keys, a 30-year-old born in Illinois and based in Florida, said with a laugh. 'You know when you're going to go on. There's no chaos. You go to bed at a totally normal time. I feel like I've lived my night-owl life, and I would really love to be that first-on slot for the rest of time.' Other than the initial matches on each court in the morning and at night, it is impossible to know when to warm up and ramp up. Tennis isn't a timed sport, so it's anyone's guess when, say, a day's third or fourth match in a given arena will begin — and as the temperature and weather shifts across the hours, the clay at the French Open can shift, too. Daily schedules often are released in the late afternoon or evening prior, and while players can make requests, those aren't always accepted. Waking up at 6 a.m. can be a struggle for tennis players 'That's one thing that's not good about tennis: We don't know when we play until the day before,' said Holger Rune, who was the No. 10 men's seed at the French Open and reached the fourth round. In team sports, he continued, 'They know already in December when they're going to play in May. You can prepare much easier. We tennis players also (deal with) the change of conditions, the change of countries, surface, whatever.' When he was a teen participating in junior tournaments, Rune recalled, there were 9 a.m. matches. 'You have to wake up at 6,' the Dane said. 'It's a struggle.' Emma Navarro, an American who reached last year's U.S. Open semifinals, is not fond of competing late. 'I'm super particular, I guess would be the word, about my sleep. I got to get my sleep in. I try to get 10 hours a night. If it's dark outside, I'm probably sleeping,' Navarro said. 'I'd prefer, probably, to play first-on than late-night. Around 8 or 9 p.m., I start shutting down.' Most have their preferences. Carlos Alcaraz, the 2024 men's champion at Roland-Garros, wants to play in the day. Alexander Zverev, the 2024 runner-up, is a fan of the night. And then there are those such as No. 8 seed Lorenzo Musetti, an Italian who faced No. 15 Frances Tiafoe of the United States in a quarterfinal that started a little after 3:30 p.m.. 'Whatever time they give me,' Musetti said, 'I'll play.'
