Carlos Alcaraz lit up Roland Garros with flair and football as he danced past Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan to keep his title defense alive.
The Spanish sensation, eyeing a repeat crown last achieved by Rafael Nadal in 2020, overcame a brief wobble to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against the world No. 56.
With Paris Saint-Germain stars Nuno Mendes and Goncalo Ramos – days away from a Champions League final – and Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo watching courtside, Alcaraz couldn’t resist putting on a show, juggling the ball with his feet and volleying one playfully to a ball kid.
“Sometimes it is difficult to have fun on the court when you’re suffering out there. It depends on the opponent as well,” he said.
“Most of the time, I’m not trying to think about anything else but enjoying playing and enjoying being on this court.
“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.”
Alcaraz clinched a one-sided opening set in just 28 minutes after an exchange of delicate drop shots at the net.
But there was a twist at the start of the second when Marozsan, who beat Alcaraz in Rome last year, secured an early break.
Alcaraz was frustrated when he let three break points slip through his fingers as Marozsan leveled the match.
But the 22-year-old meant business in the third, breaking twice and at one point sliding to whip a backhand volley around the net post onto the line.
The fourth set went the same way as Alcaraz won his ninth French Open match in a row, booking his place in the third round in 2 hours and 9 minutes.
Two-time runner-up Casper Ruud was a surprise second-round casualty, although the Norwegian seventh seed was clearly not fully fit and could barely move at the end of a 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 0-6 defeat to Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
Ruud later said the ATP rules surrounding mandatory events made him feel compelled to play even though he has a knee injury.
“It’s kind of like a rat race when it comes to the rankings,” he said. “You feel you’re obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP have set up with the mandatory events.
“You feel like you lose a lot if you don’t show up and play, both economically, point-wise, ranking-wise and opportunity-wise.”
Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who is playing as well as anyone on the clay this season, flexed his muscles with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 victory over Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan.
In the women’s draw, last year’s runner-up Jasmine Paolini, seeded No. 4, made light work of Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in a 6-3, 6-3 win.
Teenage Canadian sensation Victoria Mboko dispatched Germany’s Eva Lys 6-4, 6-4 to set up a third-round meeting with No. 8 seed Qinwen Zheng, the last woman to win a title at Roland Garros, having claimed Olympic singles gold last summer.
Emma Raducanu suffered more pain at the hands of Iga Swiatek as the four-time champion cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win.
It was a meek display from the former U.S. Open champion, who has now lost all five meetings with Swiatek without winning a set.
Swiatek, nicknamed the “Queen of Clay,” is unbeaten at the tournament since 2021 but has not reached a final since Paris last year and has slipped to No. 5 in the world.
