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Jasmine Paolini advanced to the French Open third round, defeating Ajla Tomljanovic. Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek aims for a fourth title, facing Emma Raducanu next.
Jasmine Paolini and Iga Swiatek at the French Open (AFP)
Jasmine Paolini advanced to the French Open third round on Wednesday as Iga Swiatek continued her quest for a fourth consecutive Roland Garros title.
Paolini, last year’s runner-up, defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-3, extending her winning streak to eight matches following her victory at the Italian Open earlier this month. She will next face Russia’s Anastasia Potapova or Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva.
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen secured her spot in the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Colombia’s Emiliana Arango. The Chinese star will meet another Grand Slam debutant in the next round, 18-year-old Victoria Mboko of Canada.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Swiatek aims to be the first woman to win four consecutive French Open titles since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
Swiatek, who has not reached a WTA final since lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen last year, started her campaign confidently with a straight-sets win over Rebecca Sramkova. Next, she faces Britain’s Emma Raducanu, against whom Swiatek has never lost a set in four previous meetings.
Raducanu, playing in the tournament for the first time since her 2022 debut, mentioned she struggled with illness before her first-round win over Wang Xinyu. She was defeated 6-1, 6-0 in her last encounter with Swiatek at the Australian Open round of 32 in January.
Swiatek’s drop in the WTA rankings has placed her in the same half of the draw as world number one Sabalenka, Paolini, and Zheng.
Sabalenka impressed in the first round by dismantling Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, losing just one game. She is also expected to have an easy time against Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann in round two. The Belarusian has never reached the French Open final and hopes to overcome the disappointment of her quarter-final loss to Mirra Andreeva in 2024.
Alcaraz ready for ‘drop-shot battle’
Reigning men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz takes on Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan for a place in the third round on Chatrier.
Alcaraz, who has found form on clay after a rocky start to the year, winning both the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open, as well as reaching the Barcelona Open final, is prepared for a challenging match.
World number 56 Marozsan has a memorable clay-court win over Alcaraz in Rome two years ago to draw on.
“I study my opponents a little bit. I know that Fabian likes to hit drop shots,” said second seed Alcaraz.
“So, probably I’ll put extra focus on that. I’m going to be ready for that… It’s gonna be a drop-shot battle, I guess.”
Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud, twice a French Open runner-up in 2022 and 2023, faces Portugal’s Nuno Borges. Meanwhile, Denmark’s Holger Rune, the only man to beat Alcaraz on clay this year in the Barcelona final, plays American wild card Emilio Nava.
Lorenzo Musetti, who has reached at least the semi-finals in all three Masters 1000 events on clay in 2025, cruised into the third round with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 win over Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan.
(with agency inputs)
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