Musetti, Paolini Lead Italian Charge At Roland-Garros

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti (photo: Roland-Garros video)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, May 28, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Lorenzo Musetti has been nearly unbeatable on clay since last July, highlighted by his winning the bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games. More recently, the 23-year-old reached the semifinals at all three ATP Masters 1000 events on clay – at Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome – leading up to Roland-Garros.

Jasmine Paolini, who reached her first major final at the French Open 12 months ago, came into the Parisian fortnight having just won the WTA 1000 title in Rome. At age 29, she’s out to prove that finishing runner up to Iga Swiatek last year was not a fluke.

Wednesday at Stade Roland-Garros, the two Italians – Musetti is from Carrara and Paolini from Tuscany – were on court at the same time and both came away with solid second-round victories to move into the third round.

The No. 8 seed Musetti defeated 122nd-ranked lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan from Colombia, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4, in two hours and six minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu by converting six of 12 break points, hitting 38 winners – including his sixth ace on match point – while taking advantage of his opponent’s 34 unforced errors. Musetti outpointed Elahi Galan 94-68 in improving to 3-0 against the Colombian.

“Honestly today was not easy to play because of the wind,” said Musetti, who has not dropped a set through the first two rounds of play. “I think I managed to stay there and play a solid match. That is what I needed. I had to raise the level, raise the battle, and I’m really happy to be in the third round.”

Since last July, Musetti is 23-5 on clay and could go deep if he continues to perform well on the crushed red brick surface.

“It’s been a tremendous clay season so far, but the ambitions now are higher and of course here I never reached more than the fourth round,” the World No. 7 Musetti said. “Hopefully this year will be the year, and the mentality is to try and beat everyone… I have the chance to play against everyone here, and hopefully I will take these chances.”

Next, Musetti will play No. 97 Mariano Navone of Argentina, who defeated No. 93 Reilly Opelka of the United States, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-3, in two hours and 26 minutes on Court 9 by hitting 20 winners and converting five of 16 break points.

Meanwhile, the World No. 4 and fourth-seeded Paolini recorded her 11th career win at Roland-Garros – most of any tournament she’s played in – and won her eighth straight on clay with her 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 781 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the same court where she finished runner-up to Swiatek in last year’s women’s final. It’s also where she and fellow Italian Sara Errani won the Olympic gold medal in doubles last year.

After losing before the third round in her first 16 Grand Slam main draws, Paolini has reached that stage for the sixth consecutive major. She controlled the tempo and pace of her match, hitting 24 winners and winning nine of 11 points at the net. The diminutive, 5-foot-4-inch Paolini won when Tomljanovic hit her third double fault of the match. She outpointed her opponent 67-54.

It was Tomljanovic’s eighth consecutive loss to a Top-10 opponent, while Paolini’s eighth straight win on clay is the longest streak of her career.

“Ajla plays very well and it’s tough to play against her,” Paolini said during her post-match interview. “She can hit really good shots and I was trying to play deep in the court, trying to move well. When I had the chance to be aggressive as well, I was. A little bit of up and down, but I’m happy I won the match.”

As to her fondness of playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Paolini laughed and smiled at the thought. “I like this court, I have great memories here,” she said.

Next, Paolini will next face 81st-ranked Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva, who defeated No. 37 Anastasia Potapova of Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in one hour and 40 minutes on Court 12.

Add to the mix 23-year-old Matteo Gigante. The 167th-ranked qualifier from Rome pulled off a huge upset of former French Open finalist and current 20th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece Wednesday evening, winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in three hours and six minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu.

Gigante earned first Grand Slam main-draw win in the first round on Sunday against Benjamin Hassan of Lebanon, in straight sets, and now he’s achieved his first Top-20 victory. Against Tsitsipas, Gigante struck 42 winners and outpointed his opponent 130-117. In the third round, Gigante will play No. 13 seed Ben Shelton of the United States.

Alcaraz recovers from mid-match dip, through to third round

Reigning Roland-Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz continued his title defense with a 6-1 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 56 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary. Despite a mid-match dip by the World No. 2 from Spain, in which he dropped his first set of the tournament, Alcaraz became the first man born in the 2000s to capture 20 wins at the clay-court major, and he’s advanced to the third round for the fifth time in as many draw appearances in Paris.

Since his title run a year ago at Roland-Garros, Alcaraz has compiled an impressive 29-2 win-loss record on clay, which includes his bronze medal performance at the Paris Olympics last summer.

Alcaraz completed his two-hour, nine-minute victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier – complete with a fresh haircut and shave – by winning 71 percent of his first-serve-points, served five aces, hit 41 winners to 25 unforced errors and converted eight of 17 break points. He outpointed Marozsan 121-84. The victory improved Alcaraz’s record on clay this season to 17-1 and he’s 32-5 overall – most wins on the ATP Tour.

“It was a great, great match,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview. “I played well in the first set. I had really high confidence. In the second set, he started to play much better, really aggressively and didn’t miss at all. It was a little bit difficult dealing with his game in the second set but I was pleased to stay strong and refresh in the third set and I started to play better and better. I had a really good last two sets.”

Unlike in Rome, where he wore a knee brace to protect an adductor injury suffered earlier during the European spring clay season, Alcaraz has worn no strapping in his first two Paris matches and his movement does not appear to be hampered.

“Sometimes it is difficult to have fun on the court, I have to suffer,” Alcaraz said. “It depends on the opponent as well. But most of the time I am trying to not think about anything else but enjoy playing and being in this kind of court. I want to enjoy when I step onto court and not think about anything else. I want to play good tennis and make the people enjoy my matches.”

Next, Alcaraz, who is attempting to be the first player since Rafael Nadal in 2019-20 to successfully defend his title, will play No. 69 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, who upset No. 31 seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in two hours and 49 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Dzumhur withstood 54 winners – including 10 aces – from Mpetshi Perricard and advanced to the third round at Roland-Garros for the third time – and first since 2018.

Two-time runner-up Ruud upset by Borges

On Court Suzanne-Lenglen, recent Madrid champion and two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud was upset by No. 41 Nuno Borges of Portugal, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0. The 28-year-old Borges won 13 of the final 14 games during the two-hour, 17-minute second-round match for his first Top-10 win of his career after starting 0-13. He’s also the first Portuguese player to reach the third round at the French Open.

The No. 7 seed from Norway, whose win-loss record dropped to 25-7, appeared to be hampered physically with an injured left knee that affected his mobility on court the final two sets. He received treatment on it during the match.

However, Borges rose to the occasion and struck eight aces, hit 51 winners overall, converted eight of 12 break-points chances and benefited from 38 unforced errors by the former World No. 2 Ruud. Borges outpointed his opponent 111-83.

Ruud, 26, who had reached at least the semifinals each of the past three years at the French Open – he was runner-up to Nadal in 2022 and to Novak Djokovic in 2023 – spoke about the injury afterward during his post-match news conference. “It’s hopefully nothing too serious. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been kind of struggling a little bit with knee pain on and off,” he said. “That’s why I decided to pull out of Geneva after Rome, do my best, and heal to be ready here,” he said.

“When you’re practicing, leading up to the tournament, it’s easier to avoid certain movements that are painful. It’s not painful. Everything is not painful. But certain movements out there are kind of what makes it painful. Certain shots are painful to do. When you’re playing matches, you can’t really control it in the same way. You do everything you can to get to every ball. Sometimes you kind of forget that this is a shot I shouldn’t go for, maybe in terms of pain in the knee. That’s pretty much all.”

This was Ruud’s earliest exit in Paris since losing in the second round during his 2018 debut.

Meanwhile, Borges said of his win over Ruud: “I was fighting a lot, especially that first set, I felt like I was completely drilled. He really played a huge intensity, and I wasn’t handling the situation the best. It was too much for me. Then 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’m still proud of how I battled from the beginning until the end and gave myself a shot, and today I got lucky.”

Next, Borges, who has reached the third round at three straight majors, will play No. 25 seed Alexei Popyrin of Australia, who advanced with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 61 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, in two hours and 19 minutes on Court 6 in back of 37 winners.

Around Stade Roland-Garros

Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek, seeded fifth this year, cruised into the third round with her 23rd straight win at Roland-Garros, a 6-1, 6-2 victory over 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain, who is currently ranked 41st.

The World No. 5 Swiatek, who has won three consecutive Paris majors on clay – and four of the last five – hit a ninth-shot backhand winner on her second match point to advance past Raducanu. She finished the 79-minute tussle on Court Philippe-Chatrier with a total of 32 winners.

The Polish star also converted four of eight break-point chances, saved all four break points she faced from the British No. 1 and held Raducanu to just eight winners. Swiatek outpointed her opponent 63-39.

“I just wanted to play my game and, for sure, I felt good on court,” Swiatek said during her on-court interview. “I thought I could do whatever I planned to do and wanted to do. I just needed to adjust to the wind because the conditions were pretty tricky today. I’m happy I did well and I’m through.”

On Friday, Swiatek will play No. 60 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, who rallied to defeat 188th-ranked Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 57 minutes on Court 13.

• Among the men’s seeds in action were: No. 10 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, who beat 137th-ranked American wild card Emilio Nava, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The Barcelona titlist kept Nava, who won 19 straight matches on the ATP Challenger Tour circuit earlier this season, from earning his biggest win as a pro by hitting 29 winners, converting four of 12 break points and taking advantage of 40 unforced errors. Rune outpointed Nava 111-88.

Next, Rune will face No. 52 Quentin Halys of France, who advanced with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over No. 46 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in three hours and nine minutes on Court 14. Halys fired 22 aces and hit 85 winners overall.

• No. 15 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States advanced to the third round for the second time with 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 99 Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain in an hour and 37 minutes on Court 14. Tiafoe hit 37 winners and outpointed Carreño Busta 89-62.

Next, Tiafoe will face fellow American and No. 23 seed Sebastian Korda, who eliminated No. 161 Jenson Brooksby of the United States, 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (2), in two hours and 11 minutes on Court 6.

• No. 24 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia defeated No. 108 Sebastian Ofner of Austria, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, in three hours and 58 minutes on Court 7. Khachanov struck 45 winners and outpointed Ofner 180-168.

Next, Khachanov will play No. 12 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, who rallied from two sets down to defeat No. 124 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in three hours and 38 minutes on Court 14. Paul overcame 40 unforced errors by hitting 33 winners and outpointed Fucsovics 141-138.

• Women’s seeds in action included: No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 97 Jil Teichmann of Switzerland in 79 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen; No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China, who defeated No. 85 Emiliana Arango of Colombia, 6-2, 6-3, in an hour and 37 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen; No. 12 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who eliminated 129th-ranked American wild card Iva Jovic, 6-3, 6-3, in 75 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu; No. 13 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who beat No. 82 Anna Bondar of Hungary, 7-6 (4), 7-5, in one hour and 51 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu; No. 16 seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States, who advanced over No. 78 Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, 6-0, 6-2, in 55 minutes on Court 14.

Also, No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, who defeated 150th-ranked Spanish qualifier Leyre Romero Gormaz, 6-3, 6-3, in 75 minutes on Court 12; No. 21 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who eliminated No. 67 Caroline Dolehide of the United States, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, in one hour and 59 minutes on Court 7; and No. 22 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark, who beat No. 94 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 7-6 (2), 7-5, in two hours and nine minutes on Court 13.

Among the upsets, No. 11 seed Donna Shnaider of Russia fell to No. 48 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 7-5, 7-5, in one hour and 50 minutes on Court 8. Yastremska converted six of 13 break points and hit 42 winners. Also, No. 18 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia, the reigning Olympic silver medalist, was upset by No. 83 Bernard Pera of the United States, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3), in two hours and 17 minutes on Court 6 behind nine aces and 39 winners overall.

• In men’s doubles, No. 1 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar in 78 minutes on Court 2.

• In women’s doubles, No. 2 seeds Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani of Italy won their first-round match over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand, 6-2, 6-3, in 80 minutes on Court 2 to advance.

Wednesday’s Roland-Garros results

Thursday’s Roland-Garros order of play

By the numbers

• Brazil’s Joao Fonseca not only made his Roland-Garros debut on Tuesday, when he eliminated 30th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. The 18-year-old became the second-youngest match winner at the French Open in the past 10 years, only behind an 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in 2021.

• Victoria Mboko, an 18-year-old Canadian qualifier playing in her first major, advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 59 Eva Lys of Germany Wednesday afternoon. The 120th-ranked Mboko, who has not dropped a set in her first two main-draw matches after sweeping three matches in qualifying, converted five of 12 break points and hit 20 winners against Lys during their 79-minute second-round match on Court 7. Next, she will play No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in the third round.

“Quotable …”

“History in this sport has given me everything in my life, it means a lot to me. I always try to make history where I can. … In all the tournaments I play, all the practices, all the matches, and especially during the biggest tournaments in the world. There is an opportunity to make more history, and that is one of the biggest motivations I have for competitions, for continuing to work and better myself.”

– Novak Djokovic of Serbia, a winner of three Roland-Garros titles and 24 Grand Slam crowns overall, during his post-match interview Tuesday after winning his 21st straight first-round match at the French Open.

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