Ruud, Swiatek advance as Sinner exits French Open

Fourth seed Casper Ruud and holder Iga Swiatek stayed on course to reach consecutive finals at the French Open while a couple of unheralded names in the women’s draw continued to show their immense potential on a sunny day at Roland Garros.Elena Rybakina also booked a third round spot with a 6-3 6-3 win over rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova with the fourth seed and Wimbledon champion dazzling again on Parisian clay as one of the top contenders for the Grand Slam title.Ruud, who lost to Rafa Nadal in last year’s final, is aiming to capitalise on the 14-time champion’s absence through injury this year and looked rock solid for much of his 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri."It was a tough match,” Ruud said."I started well, got a break early and served well myself."That’s the beauty of best-of-five sets. In a normal match I would have won 6-3 6-2, but here you have the chance to fight like he did."He played much better in the third set and the fourth set, and it became very tough.”Swiatek, who is looking to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup for the third time in four years, briefly struggled against American Claire Liu but returned to her rampant best with another bagel in her 6-4 6-0 victory.Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva continued to enjoy a dream Grand Slam debut as the 16-year-old stormed into the third round with a 6-1 6-2 win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry, though she admitted to having butterflies in her stomach."I’m happy that you don’t see that I’m nervous,” said the world number 143, who became the youngest player to reach the third round in Paris since a 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva stormed into the last eight in 2005. "I hide it pretty well.” American Kayla Day made no secret of her success after a stunning 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over compatriot Madison Keys, thanking her Czech roots for enhancing her tennis skills."My mum, she was born and raised in Prague, and I speak fluent Czech. That’s the only reason why I’m good at tennis, because I’m half Czech.”Jannik Sinner later squandered two match points in his 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5 loss to German Daniel Altmaier in an epic battle lasting more than five hours. "Playing every point you can with the best effort, that’s what keeps you in reality,” Altmaier said about his escapes on match point."I was just thinking that and the competition says it all. We’ve had historic matches with so many match points ... I don’t know if you can call this a ‘historical’ match, but I think it was one to remember.”Croatian Borna Coric was made to work hard by Pedro Cachin before the 15th seed prevailed 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 but it was a day to forget for Australian 18th seed Alex de Minaur who fell to a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 defeat by Tomas Martin Etcheverry.Jabeur subdues risk-taking Dodin for third round spotWorld number seven Ons Jabeur played the odds in her French Open match against daredevil Oceane Dodin yesterday to win 6-2 6-3 and march into the third round.Jabeur has endured a stop-start season in which she had minor knee surgery before winning the title in Charleston and skipping the Madrid Open with a calf problem. While it may not have been the preparation she would have liked for Paris, Jabeur has looked solid in her two matches so far, having reached the third round without dropping a set.The Tunisian initially struggled to control Dodin’s power game as the 26-year-old French world number 122 attacked almost every ball, playing with considerable risk. While she made many difficult points, Dodin missed several easier ones, including two volleys, to send Jabeur 4-2 up.The Tunisian’s drop shot is arguably the best in the women’s game and the 28-year-old world number seven made full use of it on her next service game to move 5-2 ahead. Dodin’s risky play did not pay off when another audacious crosscourt forehand flew wide to hand Jabeur the first set.The pair then traded early breaks but Dodin’s errors gradually piled up as Jabeur clinched the contest on her third match point to end the French presence in the women’s draw.It is the third time in five years that no French player has made the third round of the women’s competition.