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DAY 4 MEN'S WRAP: Alcaraz survives Marozsan scare, Ruud crashes out

football28 May 2025 15:50| © Reuters
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Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz deftly handled a dangerous opponent at the French Open when he defeated unseeded Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-2 to charge into the third round on Wednesday.

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Spaniard Alcaraz was toppled by Marozsan on the claycourts of Rome two years ago and had moments of vulnerability on Court Philippe-Chatrier but the 22-year-old ensured there would be no unwanted encore ending his bid for a fifth Grand Slam title.

"It was a great match. I started playing well. In the first set, I had really high confidence. In the second set, he started to play much better and he was really aggressive," Alcaraz said.

"He didn't miss at all so it was a little difficult to deal with his game in the second set but 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... I just want to show good tennis. I want to make sure people are happy watching my match as well. That's the way I enjoy playing tennis."

Playing beneath the centre court roof on a soggy Parisian afternoon, Alcaraz rained blows upon his 56th-ranked opponent to go ahead 4-0 and easily claimed the opening set despite stepping off the gas.

Marozsan dug deeper into his bag of tricks and found some exquisite drop shots that nearly earned him a double break in the second set before the 25-year-old confirmed the shift in momentum by levelling the contest.

Alcaraz cranked up the intensity of his muscular ballet on the red dirt and took control of the match by winning the third set but his electric tennis became erratic again in the fourth as he traded breaks with Marozsan.

He got his nose in front again, however, and strangled the hopes of Marozsan with a sliding volley around the net en route to a 5-2 lead before prevailing to set up a clash with either Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Damir Dzumhur.

RUUD CRASHES OUT 

Norway's Casper Ruud, the French Open runner-up in 2022 and 2023, crashed out of the tournament in the second round after losing 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0 to the unseeded Nuno Borges of Portugal.

Ruud, a clay court specialist, looked to be cruising to an easy win when he bagged the first set 6-2 in 41 minutes.

The 28-year-old Borges, however, roared back, cutting down on errors and sharply increasing his points won on his first and second serve while breaking the seventh seed once.

The world number 41 then steamrolled through the third set courtesy of two back-to-back breaks early on that put him 4-0 up.

To make matters worse Ruud took a brief medical time-out after the third set with what looked like a calf muscle injury.

He returned but Borges broke him twice more to finish off the 26-year-old world No 8 with a bagel.

Borges will play Alexei Popyrin in round three after the Australian eased past Alejandro Tabilo of Chile in straight sets.

MUSETTI MAKES LIGHT WORK OF LUCKY LOSER

Italian Lorenzo Musetti continued his renaissance when he eased into the third round of the French Open with a no-nonsense 6-4 6-0 6-4 victory against Colombian lucky loser Daniel Galan on Wednesday.

The eighth-seeded Musetti's main trouble was intermittent rain on court Simonne Matthieu as he set up a meeting with Argentine Mariano Navone or Reilly Opelka of the U.S.

"It was a solid performance from the beginning until the end. I had some ups and downs during the first and the third set. Definitely I cannot complain about the level that I'm showing," Musetti, who reached the final at the Monte Carlo Masters and the last four in Madrid and Rome in the three big claycourt tournaments before Roland Garros, told reporters.

"The conditions today were not easy but I managed to find a way to show my tennis and my game. I think we made a great, great match."

Musetti said things had started clicking into place after the Monte Carlo Masters last month.

"After the final in Monte Carlo there was I think a boost of confidence, of something inside that I needed to have. That was probably the results, the thing that I achieved in Monte Carlo," said the world number seven, who has never made it past the fourth round at Roland Garros.

"It was a strange week because every match I came back from a set down. Many, many times I was really close to losing the match.

"Definitely I think after that I felt like another player also in the daily routine and I know better what I have to do. Of course, also the results in Madrid and Rome, they were like the confirmation of this step forward that I made."

A Galan double fault in the third game handed Musetti the first break and the Italian opened up a 5-2 lead after aggressive play helped him to steal his opponent's serve again.

The Colombian pulled back a break in the eighth game as Musetti's serve wobbled. But Musetti saw off another break as he served for the set, which he bagged with a commanding smash.

He then stepped up a gear, allowing Galan only five points in the second set and while the Colombian offered more in the third, there was no comeback as Musetti wrapped it up on serve.

MORE RESULTS

Mariano Navone (ARG) bt Reilly Opelka (USA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3

Quentin Halys (FRA) bt Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5

Holger Rune (DEN x10) bt Emilio Nava (USA) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3

Frances Tiafoe (USA x15) bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1

Sebastian Korda (USA x23) bt Jenson Brooksby (USA) 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2)

Hamad Medjedovic (SRB) bt Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Daniel Altmaier (GER) bt Vit Kopriva (CZE) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5

Alexei Popyrin (AUS x25) bt Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4

Karen Khachanov (RUS x24) bt Sebastian Ofner (AUT) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2

Tommy Paul (USA x12) bt Marton Fucsovics (HUN) 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4

Ben Shelton (USA x13) bt Hugo Gaston (FRA) - walkover

Matteo Gigante (ITA) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x20) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4

Damir Dzumhur (BIH) bt Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA x31) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

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