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Alcaraz, pictured, beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in straight sets.© Matthieu Mirville/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy Stock Photo
Freefrench open
Alcaraz wins Roland Garros opener, Swiatek set to face Raducanu
Fourth seed Taylor Fritz became the first high-profile casualty in the men’s draw at the French Open.
5.20pm, 26 May 2025
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CARLOS ALCARAZ POWERED into the French Open second round on Monday with a resounding win to start his title defence, while three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also eased through at Roland Garros.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and will face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two.
Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic.
Two-time reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner takes centre stage in the night session against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who can expect to enjoy much of the support under the lights on Court Philippe Chatrier.
It is the first of two successive potential French opponents for Sinner, who could meet the retiring Richard Gasquet in the second round. Gasquet, 38, takes on another wild card, Terence Atmane, in his 22nd and final Roland Garros.
Taylor Fritz of the USA became the first high-profile casualty in the men’s draw as the fourth seed lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to German Daniel Altmaier.
Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up, got his bid for a first Grand Slam title under way with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over veteran Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
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- Swiatek cruises through -
Swiatek entered the tournament on a near year-long trophy drought but showed signs of form in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova.
Her struggles since the last of her four French Open titles have been well documented, but she broke her 42nd-ranked opponent four times in a strong display.
The five-time Grand Slam champion’s remarkable win-loss record in the tournament now stands at 36-2.
Swiatek, who has dropped to fifth in the world rankings, will next face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu after the Briton defeated China’s Wang Xinyu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Raducanu said she felt “really proud” after overcoming illness against Wang in a topsy-turvy encounter, which featured 16 breaks of serve and lasted nearly two hours 45 minutes.
After requiring a medical break in the first set, the 2021 US Open champion revealed she had been feeling ill all day.
“I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest,” Raducanu said in her post-match press conference.
“I felt bad from the morning. I was just trying and fighting through that. It was really difficult.
“To have kind of come through that and overcome how I was feeling, I’m really happy.”
Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, who had a match point against Swiatek in the second round at Roland Garros a year ago, was knocked out by Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa in a tense three-set battle.
Badosa, an Australian Open semi-finalist earlier this year, fought back from a set down to win 6-7 (1/7), 6-1, 6-4.
Osaka has still never got past the third round at Roland Garros.
Former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina battled past Argentinian qualifier Julia Riera 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, two days after lifting her first WTA title since April 2024 in Strasbourg.
American ninth seed Emma Navarro suffered an embarrassing 6-0, 6-1 loss to Spanish world number 68 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in just 57 minutes, only winning a game when her opponent double-faulted to gift her a break when serving for a double-bagel victory.
– © AFP 2025
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