The second round of the 2023 French Open is complete, and the big story of the round was the fall of 8th seed Jannik Sinner to Daniel Altmaier in a five-hour, five-set battle on Suzanne Lenglen.
I’d recommend watching the highlights of that one, as there are a ton of quality points, net cords, players winning points off smashes and Altmaier hitting some quality one-handed backhands.
Outside Sinner’s upset, all the remaining top ten seeds progressed, with Djokovic fending off Fucsovics despite a tense first set, Alcaraz overcoming dropping the second set vs Daniel, Ruud and Rublev also winning in four, Tstisipas coasting in three and Rune receiving a walkover after Clownfils withdrew due to a wrist injury.
You can see all the results from the round of 64 below.
French Open 2023 Round of 64 Results
Winner
Loser
Scoreline
Carlos Alcaraz (1)
Taro Daniel
6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2
Novak Djokovic (3)
Marton Fucsovics
7-6(2) 6-0 6-3
Casper Ruud (4)
Giulio Zeppieri (Q)
6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5)
Roberto Carballes Baena
6-3 7-6(4) 6-2
Holger Rune (6)
Gael Monfils (WC)
(W/O)
Andrey Rublev (7)
Corentin Moutet
6-4 6-2 3-6 6-3
Daniel Altmaier
Jannik Sinner (8)
6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5
Taylor Fritz (9)
Arthur Rinderknech
2-6 6-4 6-3 6-4
Karen Khachanov (11)
Radu Albot (Q)
6-3 6-4 6-2
Frances Tiafoe (12)
Aslan Karatsev (Q)
3-6 6-3 7-5 6-2
Hubert Hurkacz (13)
Tallon Griekspoor
6-3 5-7 6-7(13) 7-6(5) 6-4
Cameron Norrie (14)
Lucas Pouille (Q)
6-1 6-3 6-3
Borna Coric (15)
Pedro Cachin
6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4
Nicolas Jarry
Tommy Paul (16)
3-6 6-1 6-4 7-5
Lorenzo Musetti (17)
Alexander Shevchenko
6-1 6-1 6-2
Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Alex de Minaur (18)
6-3 7-6(2) 6-3
Juan Pablo Varillas
Roberto Bautista Agut (19)
1-6 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-1
Alexander Zverev (22)
Alex Molcan
6-4 6-2
Francisco Cerundolo (23)
Yannick Hanfmann (LL)
6-3 6-3 6-4
Sebastian Ofner (Q)
Sebastian Korda (24)
6-3 7-6(1) 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (26)
Matteo Arnaldi
6-2 3-6 6-3 6-3
Yoshihito Nishioka (27)
Max Purcell
4-6 6-2 7-5 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov (28)
Emil Ruusuvuori
7-6(4) 6-3 6-4
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29)
Luca Van Assche
6-4 6-3 7-6(6)
Fabio Fognini
Jason Kubler
6-4 7-6(5) 6-2
Marcos Giron
Jiri Lehecka
6-2 6-3 6-2
Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC)
Stan Wawrinka
3-6 7-5 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3
Genaro Alberto Olivieri (Q)
Andrea Vavassori (Q)
7-6(7) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3)
Diego Schwartzman
Nuno Borges
7-6(3) 6-4 6-3
Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q)
Guido Pella
6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3
Lorenzo Sonego
Ugo Humbert
6-4 6-3 7-6(3)
Zhizhen Zhang
Thiago Agustin Tirante (Q)
7-6(3) 6-3 6-4
Djokovic Fends Off Fucsovics
Novak Djokovic is through to round 3 with a 7-6(2), 6-0, 6-3 victory over Marton Fucsovics in Wednesday’s night sessions on Chatrier.
While the scoreline looks straightforward, Fucsovics battled hard, particularly in the first set, where he recovered from 2-5 down, winning several pulsating exchanges from the baseline that rattled Djokovic, who was suddenly on the ropes.
As we’ve seen countless times, though, Djokovic regrouped for the tie break, and after coming through a 1 hour and 30-minute first set, took command, breaking the Hungarian’s serve at will to win the following two sets with little trouble.
I think I was nervous because it was 7-6 in one-and-a-half hours; I mean, if I’m not nervous on the court, there are two reasons. [Either] I’m very loose, comfortable, and confident, or I don’t care much about playing or winning. Nervousness is part of my job and is part of what I do. Sometimes I express it; sometimes, I internalise it. At times, you know, I chat with myself. At times I talk with my team. The important thing is that whatever happens, that you manage to regroup and go ahead in the right direction. Djokovic on his win over Fucsovics.
Altmaier Axes Sinner Bid
Daniel Altmaier saved two match points on Jannik Sinner’s serve at 4-5 in the fourth set before prevailing 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 in five hours and 26 minutes.
Jan-Lennard Struff has been the German who stole most of the headlines during the clay swing with his run in Madrid, but Altmaier has also bagged some impressive wins in recent weeks, and none more so today, where he showed clutch tennis under pressure, endurance and the ability to exploit Sinner’s weaknesses on clay to second Top 10 win at Roland Garros.
Highlights
Ruud Reaches Round 3
Casper Ruud downed the Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in a hard-fought match that saw the lefty produce some high-quality tennis in sets three and four to give the Norwegian plenty to think about.
Ultimately Ruud’s baseline consistency and depth of shot got the job done, and he faces Zhizhen Zhang in round three, which looks like a nice route into the last sixteen.
Highlights
Other Matches of Note
Monfils withdraws: After his five-set win over Baez, Gael Monfils withdrew with a wrist injury, giving Holger Rune a walkover into the third round.
Alcaraz downs Daniel: Carlos Alcaraz saw off Taro Daniel with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Daniel gave a solid account in windy conditions, causing Alcaraz problems throughout, but the Spaniard found his forehand more and more as the match wore on.
Hurkacz grinds past Griekspoor: A lengthy five-setter that saw the Dutchman serve for the match, but Hurkacz prevailed 6-3 5-7 6-7(13) 7-6(5) 6-4.
Musetti Cruises: The Italian dropped just four games against Shevchenko en route to a 6-1 6-1 6-2 win. Impressive as the Russian has played well during the clay court swing.
Kokkinakis Ends Wawrinka’s hopes: As I alluded to in my previous post, Wawrinka loses sets and matches when he’s well on top, and here he was a set and 4-2 up but fell in five to the Aussie. Still, plenty of fight in the Stanimal to take it five, but he must rue losing these matches when he has a chance to accelerate away.
Round of 32 Matches
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs Denis Shapovalov (26)
Lorenzo Musetti (17) vs Cameron Norrie (14)
Fabio Fognini vs Sebastian Ofner (Q)
Diego Schwartzman vs Stefnaos Tsitsipas (5)
Novak Djokovic (3) vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29)
Juan Pablo Varillas vs Hubert Hurkacz (13)
Karen Khachanov (11) vs Thansi Kokkinakis (WC)
Lorenzo Sonego vs Andrey Rublev (7)
Holger Rune (6) vs Genaro Alberto Olivieri (Q)
Francisco Cerundolo (23) vs Taylor Fritx (9)
Nicolas Jarry vs Marcos Giron
Zhizhen Zhang vs Casper Ruud
Daniel Altmaier vs Grigor Dimitrov
Alexander Zverev (22) vs Frances Tiafoe (12)
Borna Coric (15) vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Yoshihito Nishioka (27) vs Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q)
What was your favourite 2nd round match? Have you changed your pick for the title? Let me know in the comments.