PARIS - Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame a minor blip to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday.
Second seed Alcaraz came through 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 against Hungarian Fabian Marozsan to earn his 17th win in 18 matches on clay this season.
"Second set, he started to play better and he didn't miss a lot so it was a little bit difficult to deal with his game," said Alcaraz.
"I'm really happy I stayed strong and refreshed myself. In the third set, I started to play better and better which helped me have a really good last two sets."
Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam winner, goes on to face Bosnian journeyman Damir Dzumhur for a place in the last 16.
Twice former French Open runner-up Casper Ruud was the biggest casualty on Wednesday, crashing out in four sets to Portugal's Nuno Borges.
Seventh seed Ruud won the first set against world number 41 Borges but was hampered by a knee injury as he slumped to a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 defeat.
"I actually felt it quite early in the first set," said Ruud, uncertain whether he would be fit for Wimbledon. "It's hopefully nothing too serious."
There were no such problems for in-form Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who raced past Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-0, 6-4.
Musetti has reached at least the semi-finals in all three Masters 1000 events on clay in 2025. He will next play Argentina's Mariano Navone.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 20th seed, suffered his earliest French Open exit in seven years as the 2021 runner-up lost in four sets to Matteo Gigante.
The Italian qualifier goes through to face Ben Shelton, who received a walkover as Hugo Gaston pulled out with an injury.
Denmark's Holger Rune, the only man to beat Alcaraz on clay this year in the Barcelona final, beat American wild card Emilio Nava 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the night match.