French Open 2023 Results: Instant Reactions to Winners and Losers from Thursday
Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek have a combined 16-1 set record at the 2023 French Open.
All four single-digit seeds advanced to the third round of the women's singles draw with straight-set victories on Thursday.
The dominant showings from the four players are setting up two potential must-watch quarterfinal matches. Only one of their opponents won more than three games in a single set on Thursday.
The women's singles draw as a whole has seven of the top 10 seeds left going into the third round. That is a massive improvement from 2022, when seven top-10 seeds were eliminated in the opening two rounds.
Thursday's only big upset came from the men's singles draw, where No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner dropped a five-set battle with Daniel Altmaier.
Altmaier avenged a five-set loss he suffered to Sinner at the 2022 U.S. Open, and in the process, he broke open the bottom half of the men's draw even more.
With Sinner and Daniil Medvedev out, Casper Ruud appears to be the favorite to reach the final, but a pair of Americans may have something to say about that.
Thursday Results
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Men's Singles
No. 4 Casper Ruud def. Giulio Zeppieri, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Daniel Altmaier def. No. 8 Jannik Sinner, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5
No. 9 Taylor Fritz def. Arthur Rinderknech, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
No. 12 Frances Tiafoe def. Aslan Karatsev, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
No. 15 Borna Coric def. Pedro Cachin, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Nicolas Jarry def. No. 16 Tommy Paul, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5
Tomas Etcheverry def. No. 18 Alex De Minaur, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3
No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo def. Yannick Hanfmann, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
No. 27 Yoshihito Nishioka def. Max Purcell, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4
No. 28 Grigor Dimitrov def. Emil Ruusuvuori, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4
Women's Singles
No. 1 Iga Swiatek def. Claire Liu, 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 Elena Rybakina def. Linda Noskova, 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Coco Gauff def. Julia Grabher, 6-2, 6-3
No. 7 Ons Jabeur def. Oceane Dodin, 6-2, 6-3
No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Diana Shnaider, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
Kayla Day def. No. 20 Madison Keys, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
Bernarda Pera def. No. 22 Donna Vekic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 23 Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-2, 6-0
Top Women Dominate Second-Round Matches
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The best four players in the top half of the women's draw controlled their second-round matches on Thursday.
Gauff, Jabeur, Rybakina and Swiatek all were on the court for less than 90 minutes. Swiatek's 89-minute victory over Claire Liu was the longest of the quartet.
Swiatek was expected to dominate the early rounds at Roland Garros because she has two titles in the last three years.
The No. 1 seed replicated her first-round performance on Thursday. She won a tight first set before sweeping all six games in the second set.
Swiatek looks like she will cruise to the quarterfinals since there are three unseeded women left in her part of the draw, but keep an eye on Bianca Andreescu, who looks to be in some of her best form since winning the 2019 U.S. Open. Swiatek and Andreescu could meet in the fourth round.
Gauff, the 2022 French Open runner-up, looked sharper on Thursday than she did in her three-set first-round win. She needed just 68 minutes to beat Julia Grabher.
Gauff faces an interesting third-round matchup against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who has not lost more than two games in a set in two matches.
Rybakina's quest for a second French Open quarterfinal appearance in three years and a third major final in a year is off to a fantastic start.
The No. 4 seed has the toughest draw in front of her to reach the final eight. There are two seeded players left in her portion of the draw. Swiatek, Gauff and Jabeur are the only ranked players remaining in their parts of the bracket.
Jabeur is in search of her third final in the last four Grand Slam tournaments. She is also looking for her first advancement past the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Only one of the four players will make it to the final, but if the first two rounds are any indication, we could be in for two strong quarterfinals and a memorable semifinal from the quartet.
Daniel Altmaier Upsets Jannik Sinner
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Altmaier sent the latest shockwave through the bottom half of the men's draw with his come-from-behind, five-set triumph over the No. 8 seed.
The 24-year-old German looked like he was out of the match after Sinner won the third set 6-1.
Altmaier battled back for a fourth-set tiebreak win to stay in the match. He then produced a crucial break at 5-5 before he won a long battle on his serve to secure the victory.
The victory marked just the second time Altmaier advanced past the second round in seven Grand Slam appearances. His best major finish was a fourth-round mark in Paris in 2020.
Sinner's early departure was the second shock in two rounds in the bottom half. Medvedev lost in the first round to Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Ruud, Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz are the single-digit seeds left in the bottom half. Ruud and Zverev are the only Grand Slam finalists left in that half.
Most experts would probably pick Ruud, the 2022 French and U.S. Open runner-up, as the favorite to reach the final, but other players could see the openness of the draw as an opportunity to carve out their own Grand Slam history.
Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe Look Good on Unfriendly Clay Surface
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The two American seeds left in the men's draw have a big opportunity in front of them.
Fritz and Frances Tiafoe each reside in the bottom half and have looked good on the Paris clay through two rounds.
Fritz battled under the lights against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in Thursday's final match.
The No. 9 seed used a nice mix of baseline play and points won at the net to silence the home crowd and move on to the third round.
Fritz needs a win over Francisco Cerundolo to earn his best-ever French Open finish. He made it to the third round once in six previous appearances.
Tiafoe came back from a set down, like Fritz, to capture a second-round victory over Aslan Karatsev.
Tiafoe has the bigger third-round challenge on his hands against Zverev, who owns a 6-1 head-to-head record against the No. 12 seed.
The 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist never advanced to the third round at Roland Garros before this year, and the improved form on clay could help him battle with Zverev, a two-time semifinalist in Paris.
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