Alcaraz overcomes blip to reach French Open third round

Reigning men's champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and top-ranked women's player Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus both clinched second-round victories at the French Open on Wednesday.

Alcaraz, 22, defeated Hungary's Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and will confront Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the third round.

"I started pretty well. In the first set, I had really high confidence. I think in the second set he started to play much better, very aggressive. He didn't miss at all, so it was a little bit difficult to deal with his game in the second set, but I'm really happy with how I stayed strong and refreshed in the third set. I started to play better and better, and it has been a good last two sets," the second seed recalled after the match.

In other men's singles games, Portugal's Nuno Borges shocked seventh-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, while Italy's Lorenzo Musetti saw off Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.

Three-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka eased past Switzerland's Jil Teichmann 6-3, 6-1 in 79 minutes, and Chinese favorite Zheng Qinwen also seized victory over Emiliana Arango of Colombia in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

Earlier this month, 22-year-old Zheng beat Sabalenka for the first time to reach the Italian Open semifinals. The French Open women's singles draw is such that the two could potentially face off in the quarterfinal.

"Even myself, I got a lot of inspiration from last year. When I am in difficult moments, I always remember to keep fighting. I really love the French crowd. I would like to play more matches here," said 2024 Olympic champion Zheng.

In women's doubles, tenth-seeded Jiang Xinyu of China and Wu Fang-hsien of Chinese Taipei advanced into the second round after beating Camila Osorio of Colombia and America's Alycia Parks 6-4, 6-1. Fellow Chinese players Xu Yifan, Zhang Shuai and Guo Hanyu all bowed out in the first round with their respective partners.

China's Bu Yunchaokete and Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli failed to reach the men's doubles second round, after losing to India's N. Sriram Balaji and Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico 6-2, 6-1.