The Japan Times - Alcaraz tested at French Open as Swiatek eyes third round

Reigning men's champion and second seed Alcaraz came through 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Hungarian Fabian Marozsan to earn his 17th win in 18 matches on clay this season.

"Second set, he started to play better and he didn't miss a lot so it was a little bit difficult to deal with his game," said Alcaraz.

"I'm really happy I stayed strong and refreshed myself. In the third set, I started to play better and better which helped me have a really good last two sets."

Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam winner, goes on to face French 31st seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Bosnian Damir Dzumhur for a place in the last 16.

However, twice former French Open runner-up Casper Ruud crashed out after going down in four sets to Portugal's Nuno Borges.

Seventh seed Ruud won the first set against world number 41 Borges but was hampered by a leg injury as he slumped to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 defeat.

"I actually felt it quite early in the first set," said Ruud, revealing his recent struggles with a knee injury. "It's hopefully nothing too serious."

There were no such problems for in-form Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who raced past Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.

Musetti has reached at least the semi-finals in all three Masters 1000 events on clay in 2025. He will next play Argentina's Mariano Navone.

Jasmine Paolini moved into the women's third round as she brushed aside Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3 to stretch her winning streak to eight matches following her triumph at the Italian Open earlier this month.

"A little bit of ups and downs but I'm happy I won," said last year's runner-up Paolini, who advances to play Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen punched her ticket to the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Colombia's Emiliana Arango.

The Chinese star faces another Grand Slam debutant in the next round, 18-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada. Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina and US 16th seed Amanda Anisimova also progressed.

- Swiatek and Sabalenka in action -

Meanwhile, Poland's Swiatek is bidding to become the first woman to win four consecutive French Open titles since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.

She arrived in Paris under a slight cloud, having not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen last year.

But the 23-year-old, who has slipped to fifth in the world rankings, opened her campaign with a confident straight-sets win against Rebecca Sramkova.

Next up is an opponent she knows well in Britain's Emma Raducanu, against whom Swiatek has never even lost a set in four previous meetings.

"We know each other's game. For sure I will need to be intense and focus on myself," said Swiatek, who boasts a 36-2 win-loss record at the French Open and also won the title in 2020.

"But for sure, you know, she won the US Open (in 2021). She can play great tennis. I'll be ready."

Raducanu is playing in the tournament for the first time since her debut in 2022 and said she was struggling with illness before her first-round win over Wang Xinyu.

She was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 the last time she met Swiatek in the Australian Open round of 32 in January.

"I think exposure to the top players is great for where I'm at for my development," Raducanu said ahead of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Swiatek's slide down the WTA standings has left her in the same half of the draw as world number one Aryna Sabalenka, Paolini and Zheng.

Sabalenka fired a warning sign to her rivals in the first round by dismantling Russian Kamilla Rakhimova for the loss of just one game and will also be expected to make short work of Switzerland's Jil Teichmann in round two.

The Belarusian has never reached the French Open final and is hoping to banish the memories of a painful quarter-final loss to Mirra Andreeva in 2024.

Denmark's Holger Rune, the only man to beat Alcaraz on clay this year in the Barcelona final, plays American wild card Emilio Nava in the night match.

S.Suzuki--JT