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Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the third round at Roland Garros for the fifth consecutive year on Wednesday when he overcame Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-2 to earn his 20th win at the clay-court major.

Chasing his first major title, the 2021 finalist Tsitsipas was in control for large periods on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The Greek demonstrated great footwork to dictate on his forehand, hitting with heavy topspin to force Carballes Baena deep.

"I like the bounces and the way the ball [moves] when it is sunny like this," Tsitsipas said when asked about the lively conditions. "There were a few instances this year where it rained a little bit and did not suit me as much, but I really enjoy sunny days like this."

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Tsitsipas overpowered the World No. 57 in the first and third sets, and recovered from dropping serve twice in the second set, winning a tight tie-break. With his two-hour, 16-minute victory, Tsitsipas set a third-round meeting against Diego Schwartzman or Nuno Borges.

Editor's note: This story was translated from ATPTour.com/es.

Diego Schwartzman may not be enjoying the season he had hoped for, but on Monday at Roland Garros the Argentine proved he is not about to give up. The No. 95 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings came back to win 1-6, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 against 32nd seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles.

“In recent months I haven’t been able to find my game or the wins”, explained Schwartzman. “When I played well, the opponent played even better. When I was bad, they beat me quickly. At tournaments where I was feeling good, I had draws that didn’t help at all, against [Jannick] Sinner twice, [Holger] Rune... With a little bit of luck, I could have won a few more matches and improved my year. But that wasn’t the case and I got even worse.”

For Schwartzman, with a record of 5 wins and 14 defeats and now almost sitting outside the Top 100, the first-round win was a welcome respite that begged a question he has heard a lot in recent times: What’s going on with El Peque?

“Maybe I’ll find an explanation soon,” responded the Argentine. “We try different things in my team, that we all agree on and with the best of intentions. We thought we definitely needed a change. Often, you look to lay blame where there is none.”

Taro Daniel will on Wednesday try to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time on his seventh main draw appearance. There is a significant hurdle in his way to a place in the last 32, though.

Daniel will play World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who is pursuing his first trophy at the clay-court major. Before they meet on Court Philippe-Chatrier, ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the 30-year-old Daniel, who is No. 112 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Taro Is A Man Of The World
Daniel is Japanese, was born in New York and trained in Spain for 10 years. His father, Paul, had a job that required the family to travel around the world. 

Taro began playing tennis on clay aged seven, when his father introduced him to the sport. His younger sister, Kana Daniel, played college tennis for the University of Pennsylvania.

Spanish Roots
Daniel spent 10 years training in Spain, which he credits for the development of his game. After defeating Andy Murray at the 2022 Australian Open, he said in a press conference, “I feel 30 per cent Spanish, a little bit.”

Daniil Medvedev’s first-round loss at Roland Garros Tuesday has taken him out of the battle for No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the time being. However, the top spot is still up for grabs this fortnight.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is still in pole position to retain his place after the clay-court major. Even if he loses in the second round to Taro Daniel, a lot would need to happen for him to let slip No. 1.

Round-By-Round Pepperstone ATP Rankings Points

If Alcaraz loses his next match, he will depart Paris with 6,500 points. World No. 3 Novak Djokovic would need to reach the final at Roland Garros to surpass that mark. World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas would need to win the title to have a chance. If Alcaraz advances to the fourth round, Tsitsipas will be eliminated from contention for World No. 1.

It is possible there will be a blockbuster showdown between Alcaraz and Djokovic in the semi-finals. Should that clash come to pass, there would be implications in the battle for World No. 1.

Several of the Roland Garros favourites take the court for their second-round contests Wednesday in Paris, including Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

ATPTour.com looks at three key matches on Day 4 of the season’s second major.

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[3] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Marton Fucsovics (HUN)

Two-time Roland Garros champion Djokovic continues his bid for a record 23rd major crown against World No. 83 Fucsovics. Djokovic produced a strong serving performance in the opening round, winning 82 per cent of points behind his first delivery against Aleksandar Kovacevic and will now aim to extend his perfect 4-0 ATP Head2Head series record against the Hungarian Fucsovics. Wednesday will be their first meeting on clay.

The Serbian will have to absorb the heavy groundstrokes of Fucsovics, who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2020 after he defeated then-World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev in the opening round. One thing to watch is if Fucsovics looks for opportunities to attack the net. In his opening match against Hugo Grenier, the 31-year-old saw success when he came forward, converting 37 of 50 net points. Will that be part of Fucsovics’ strategy to disrupt the rhythm of the 93-time tour-level titlist?

Gael Monfils produced a moment of magic in the early moments of Wednesday morning that fans will not soon forget. 

The French star rallied from 0-4, 30/40 down in the fifth set of his first-round Roland Garros clash with Sebastian Baez to triumph 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 at 12:18 a.m.

The former World No. 6 scrambled throughout to deal with Baez and his aggressive forehand, then battled his body deep into the fifth set, in which he struggled to walk in between points due to cramps. But the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd propped up the 36-year-old with unrelenting support and urged him to victory after three hours and 47 minutes.

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The scene after Monfils clinched the match with a backhand passing shot up the line — which bounced off the top of the net and in — is one those watching will retain for years to come. Initially he pulled his shirt over his face in disbelief, then revealed a massive smile.

Five months ago, Marton Fucsovics earned a dramatic five-set victory against Federico Coria at the Australian Open. However, it was not just his four-hour, 15-minute win that grabbed fans' attention.

After sealing victory, the Hungarian tore off his shirt and showed off his ripped physique, with the image going viral on social media. For Fucsovics, the attention was reward for the hard work he had put in during the offseason.

“I had a very bad year [in 2022]. I dropped outside the Top 100 and had to change my coach, so I was very motivated by the end of last year. I did a very, very hard offseason with a lot of fitness training,” said Fucsovics, who will play Novak Djokovic Wednesday in the second round at Roland Garros. “Lots of running and lots of weightlifting and then the result came out in January.

“People could see that the hard work had paid off. It went viral, worldwide. Everyone saw it. I found it funny but at the same time, it gave me a lot of confidence. So I felt really strong after that. Even stronger.”

Friend and Top 5 star Daniil Medvedev took the opportunity to demonstrate his sense of humour, jokingly replicating the Hungarian’s actions by showing off his leg muscles following his second-round win against John Millman in Melbourne.

How many of you have been delivered to your family from a bird’s mouth?

One of the stories my mom told me when I was little was that I was a gift from God, who sent me with a stork, which delivered me to my mom’s door. It’s funny thinking of that today. Then my mom told me that I came from another family, but that she loved me the same way she did her blood children. The truth is, I was adopted.

My biological mother attended a Catholic church group in Brazil, and when she got pregnant with me, she did not have the ability to raise a kid. My mom was also there, and she thought it would be a great opportunity to adopt a child. At the time, it was a very difficult moment for her. My mom was suffering from breast cancer.

But she’s a fighter. In her mind, adopting a kid had a chance to be a shining star of light to bring happiness back into her life. Thankfully she recovered, and not only did she adopt me, but she also adopted two more girls, my younger sisters, Leticia and Jessica.

I never really understood I was adopted until I was nine or 10 years old. Some kids struggle when they find out they were adopted. It is a difficult thing, and it takes time to process. But nothing changed for me. I always felt like I was a part of my family, so I just kept living. It never felt different. They gave me all the support and love that I needed, so nothing was missing from my life.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer held their nerve to survive an opening-round scare Tuesday at Roland Garros. The defending champions overcame Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-6) in an entertaining two-hour, 22-minute battle.

Arevalo and Rojer rallied from 0/4 in the Match Tie-break and won 10 of the final 12 points to advance to the second round in Paris, where they will next meet Nicolas Barrientos and Robert Galloway. The El Salvadoran-Dutch duo of Arevalo and Rojer are aiming for their third title of the season after triumphs at the Adelaide International 2 and the Delray Beach Open.

Top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski kicked off their Roland Garros campaign by ousting Gonzalo Escobar and Andrey Golubev 6-3, 7-6(5). Fifth seeds Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara also advanced after they downed Austrian duo Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3.

Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen scored a commanding upset when they defeated eighth seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 7-5, 6-3.

Daniil Medvedev was quick to credit his opponent, Thiago Seyboth Wild, after losing in the first round at Roland Garros.

“Tough match. I don't know. I'm not going to look at it back on TV but my feeling was that he played well. I don't think I played that bad, but he played well,” Medvedev said. “The thing is that it's always the same. If he continues to play that way, my opinion, end of the year, he's Top 30. But last time I said something like this about someone, he didn't manage to do it. But great for him to play like this today.

“I honestly hope he's going to play like this later on, because if not, I'm going to be disappointed. I'm going to be like, ‘Why today? Why not in two days?’”

Medvedev appeared to take control when he won the third set 6-2 to earn a two-sets-to-one advantage. But Seyboth Wild controlled many of the baseline exchanges, hitting 69 winners to triumph after five sets across four hours and 15 minutes.

“I think I was fighting well. Physically I was not feeling that bad. I mean, I'm a little bit tired now, but also when you lose your body goes down faster. If I would win I would not feel that tired,” Medvedev said. “Mentally I was fighting. I was fighting. The last game, brought it back to 30-All, guy makes two winners, okay, whatever. Hopefully [I] can make it next time.

Holger Rune showed his clay-court pedigree on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where he battled to defeat American Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in his opening match.

The 20-year-old Dane was pushed hard throughout the opening three sets against Eubanks, before he raced clear in the fourth to earn victory after two hours and 50 minutes.

The American came out swinging and stepped forward at every opportunity to force Rune back. The sixth seed did not succumb to the pressure, though, maintaining a high level to clinch his 28th win of the season.

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Rune became the first Danish man to reach the quarter-finals in Paris in 2022 when he advanced to the last eight on tournament debut. The sixth seed arrives at this year’s clay-court major in red-hot form, having reached ATP Masters 1000 finals in Monte-Carlo and Rome and triumphed in Munich.

More than five hours. Five match points saved. Years of hard work. On Tuesday afternoon at Roland Garros, 28-year-old Andrea Vavassori earned his moment in the sun.

The Italian qualifier rallied from two sets down to stun 31st seed Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(3), 7-6(11-9) for a place in the second round in Paris. It is his first main draw win at a major.

Entering the match, Vavassori had won just two tour-level singles tie-breaks in his career. But he claimed three in a row to advance on the terre battue.

In the second round, the No. 148 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings will face an opponent ranked lower than him in No. 231 Genaro Alberto Olivieri, who had never played a tour-level match before Tuesday, when he ousted #NextGenATP Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

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Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild earned the biggest win of his career Tuesday when he stunned World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller at Roland Garros.

Seyboth Wild was making his debut in Paris but showed little sign of nerves on Court Philippe Chatrier, swinging freely throughout the four-hour, 15-minute clash to upset the second seed 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career, up until today. Playing on this court against this kind of player and beating him is a dream come true," Seyboth Wild said. "Walking on court I just wanted to get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand against his and it worked pretty well."

The World No. 172 clubbed 69 winners and recovered from squandering two set points in the second-set tie-break, raising his level again in the latter stages of the first-round clash to seal his maiden main-draw major win.

Seyboth Wild, who has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year, was competing in his first tour-level match this season. He will look to back up his dream win against Medvedev when he plays Frenchman Quentin Halys or Guido Pella in the second round.

Last year’s Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud is up and running at the clay-court major in 2023, dispatching Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round for the sixth consecutive season.

The fourth seed, who lost against Rafael Nadal in the title match 12 months ago, quickly found his range on his return to Paris. The Norwegian hit freely on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, outmanoeuvring World No. 155 Ymer with his mixture of spins to advance after two hours and seven minutes.

"It was tough. The first match back here since one of the best tournament's of my life, you have to try to defend what you did last year, so I was a bit nervous at times," Ruud said in his on-court interview. "But I managed to calm down and as the match went on I felt a little better. I had to stay focused all the way and I am very happy happy to be through in straight sets."

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Ruud struck 28 winners compared to 17 from Ymer, while he broke the Swede’s serve eight times to earn his 14th win at Roland Garros.

Dominic Thiem is eager to continue his return to form despite a tough five-set loss to Pedro Cachin on Monday in the first round at Roland Garros.

More than a year ago Thiem began his comeback from a wrist injury against Cachin. The Austrian believes he is in a much better place now.

“There's no comparison. Back then I was not ready to play. I shouldn't have even played. Today I was definitely ready to play, to fight. That's what I did obviously,” Thiem said. “I didn't start well at all. How should I say, I was very tight. What I was expecting, I had very, very good practice sets. but most of the times in the first real match it's not that easy, and that's what happened.

“I was fighting back great, starting to play a bit better. And then, yeah, I missed to do the last step, to reward myself, to give myself a chance to play a second round maybe a little bit looser. I was not able to do it.”

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Jannik Sinner was ruthlessly efficient in his first-round win at Roland Garros on Monday evening.

The Italian cruised past home favourite Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round at the clay-court major for the fourth straight year. Sinner has never fallen short of the fourth round in three previous appearances in Paris.

The eighth seed hit 30 winners and saved the two break points he faced to defeat Muller on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Next up will be German Daniel Altmaier, who eliminated Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

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Sinner will be plenty familiar with Altmaier, who at last year's US Open pushed him to five sets in a three-hour, 35-minute tussle. The Italian will try to keep his opponent's aggressive one-handed backhand at bay.

The first round reaches its climax on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where second seed Daniil Medvedev, the in-form Holger Rune and 2022 semi-finalist Alexander Zverev all begin their campaigns in the singles draw at the clay-court major.

ATPTour.com breaks down some of the standout matches on the Day 3 schedule in Paris.

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[6] Holger Rune (DEN) vs. Christopher Eubanks (USA)

Holger Rune announced himself on the Grand Slam stage last year at Roland Garros, where the then-19-year-old took out Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the quarter-finals on event debut. Rune returns as the sixth seed, a four-time ATP Tour champion, and one of the in-form players on the ATP Tour.

A 13-3 record across the European clay season suggests the Dane is primed for another deep Roland Garros run, but he faces an unfamiliar challenge first up in Christopher Eubanks. It will be Rune’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with the American, who will step on Court Simonne-Mathieu at a career-high No. 74 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Daniil Medvedev has made no secret about his surface preference. The 27-year-old likes hard courts the most and it is not particularly close.

But entering Roland Garros, he is enjoying more success than ever on clay. Seeded second in Paris, Medvedev is fresh off winning a clay-court ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome, where he had never previously won a match.

"Friendship. I don't think I love it," Medvedev said after defeating Holger Rune in the final, cracking a laugh. "I love hard courts, my only love in tennis. But I definitely like clay courts much more now."

According to Insights provided by Tennis Data Innovations, Medvedev's performance on clay this year has been close to his level on his beloved hard courts.

Medvedev Insights: Hard vs Clay

Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time getting his Roland Garros title quest underway on Monday when he raced past #NextGenATP Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the second round.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz is the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time and the youngest in Paris since a then-19-year-old Bjorn Borg in 1976. The Spaniard showed little sign of nerves in his opening match, though, timing his clean groundstrokes perfectly to overpower the 21-year-old qualifier Cobolli in the baseline exchanges.

"It is great to play here. It is my first time on Suzanne-Lenglen and I enjoyed playing here," Alcaraz said. "There was such great energy from the crowd and I came out with a great level."

The shot, the reaction, EVERYTHING ?@carlosalcaraz | @rolandgarros | #RolandGarros

pic.twitter.com/XCkKkHcVzd

Alcaraz showed off his variety on Court Suzanne-Lenglen by repeatedly pulling Cobolli around with the drop shot, while he survived an attacking bombardment from the 21-year-old in the third set. The World No. 1 recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4, soaking up pressure to immediately break Cobolli's serve before advancing on his fifth match point.

It may have lasted less than two sets, but Alexander Zverev’s Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal still went down as one of the most gripping matches of 2022.

The Court Philippe Chatrier crowd had witnessed three hours and 13 minutes of absorbing action when Zverev badly rolled his right ankle and was forced to retire in agony when trailing 6-7(8), 6-6. It was an unfortunate end to the German's bold attempt to become just the fourth player to defeat ATP Tour great Nadal at Roland Garros.

“I went into that match, and I had the belief that I can compete, and played with it,” Zverev told ATPTour.com last month. “That match was starting to get better and better, and my tennis started to get better and better, so it was a bit of an unfortunate time for me to get injured because I really felt like I was on top of my game.”

Zverev had come out firing in his bid to notch a first Grand Slam victory against Nadal. He led 4-2 in the first set before being pegged back by the Spaniard, who was chasing a record-extending 14th title at the clay-court Grand Slam. Even after letting slip four set points from 6/2 in the tie-break en route to losing the first set, the then-World No. 3 Zverev continued to dictate rallies with his heavy groundstrokes in humid conditions under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof.

“I was playing extremely well,” recalled Zverev. "I felt the ball from both sides, I was playing aggressive. It's tough to pick one [specific] thing [I did well], but I think we were both at the top of our game.