29 May,2025 08:17 AM IST | Paris | AFP
Carlos Alcaraz during his second round win over Fabian Marozsan yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Reigning French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz booked his spot in the third round at Roland Garros on Wednesday with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Fabian Marozsan.
The Spaniard was in imperious form as he raced into a one-set lead before dropping the second.
"It was a great match, I started pretty well and was feeling confident," Alcaraz said during his on-court interview. "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."
However, the World No. 2 swiftly rediscovered his excellent clay court groove, which saw him win at Monte Carlo and Rome before Roland Garros, to storm through in four sets.
Next he will face home hope Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the Round-of-32.
The biggest casualty on the third day was that of World No. 8 Casper Ruud. The Norwegian went down in four sets to Portugal's Nuno Borges. Seventh seed Ruud appeared to be hampered by a leg injury as he slumped to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 defeat.
"I was fighting a lot, especially that first set, I felt like I was completely drilled. He really played with huge intensity, and I wasn't handling the situation the best. It was too much for me" said Borges, who is ranked 41st.
The Portuguese admitted that he benefitted from Ruud's injury. "[But] I just kept on trying and noticed he started to slow down a little bit, and obviously he wasn't 100 per cent today or I'm sure the result would not have been the same. I got lucky," added Borges.
Borges is through to the third round at Roland Garros for the first time and will play Australian 25th seed Alexei Popyrin for a place in the last-16.
Meanwhile, Italy's eight-seeded Lorenzo Musetti dispatched Colombia's Daniel Gallan 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 within two hours and six minutes.
Musetti will battle Argentina's Mariano Navone in the next round.
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