The Japan Times - Alcaraz, Swiatek win at French Open as Sabalenka eyes third round

Men's title favourite 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 Bosnian journeyman Damir Dzumhur for a place in the last 16.

In the women's draw, Swiatek outclassed fellow former US Open champion Emma Raducanu to rack up her 23rd consecutive win at Roland Garros.

The Pole beat Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 to make it five wins in as many meetings with the Briton. She improved her career win-loss record at the tournament to 37-2.

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

The 23-year-old arrived in Paris under a slight cloud, having not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen last year, but has made serene progress through the first two rounds.

"Honestly, I just love playing here. This place inspires me and that makes me work harder," said Swiatek, who also lifted the trophy as a teenager in 2020.

The fifth seed will play Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek or Romania's Jaqueline Cristian for a place in the last 16.

Jasmine Paolini moved into the 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.

- Ruud knocked out -

Twice former French Open runner-up Casper Ruud was the biggest casualty in either draw on Wednesday, crashing out 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.

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.

"I'm not really trying to focus what happened last year," said Sabalenka.

"I'm just trying to, you know, live my life, work hard on court, and go out there every time and fight for every point, and I really hope for a better result than last year."

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.

M.Ito--JT