Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and American Frances Tiafoe advance to second round

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On day two of the 2023 French Open, Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 1 seed and No. 1 men’s tennis player in the world, managed to both dominate and come back against qualifier Flavio Cobolli, a 21-year-old player in his first Grand Slam main draw.

In the first two sets, Alcaraz, 20, was consistently dominant. He won the first set 6-0 in just 26 minutes, and although Cobolli won two games, he won the second set in just 27 minutes. It looked like Alcaraz couldn’t be stopped, despite the crowd urging Cobolli to fight back and make the match competitive.

That’s exactly what Cobolli did. After Alcaraz completely crushed him in sets one and two, Cobolli won the opener of set three. Then he took a 2-1 lead. Then they were tied 3-3. Alcaraz managed to win the next two games, but Cobolli wasn’t done. Trailing 5-3 and facing a match triple point at 0-40, Cobolli came back all the way and picked up a win to extend the game. But he couldn’t maintain the pace he had set for himself and started making mistakes that left the door open for Alcaraz – and Alcaraz walked through it.

For Alcaraz, much of this match felt like somewhere between a practice and a highlight. He controlled the match for the first two sets, making everything seem effortless. Then got into the weeds a bit, but practiced and closed out the game. If anyone was worried about his early loss at the Italian Open, Cobolli’s defeat on Monday should put their minds at ease. Alcaraz is ready.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 29. Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the first round of the singles competition on the Suzanne Lenglen court during the French Open 2023 tennis tournament at Roland Garros on May 29, 2023, in Paris, France. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
On day two of the 2023 French Open, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli in the first round of men’s singles. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

How did the Americans do it?

It’s only Day 2 at Roland Garros, but the Americans are doing well so far. Here are Monday’s winners:

  • No. 12 Frances Tiafoe defeats. Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

  • Kayla Day won. Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-1

  • Bernarda Pera defeats. Annet Kontaveit 7-6(6), 6-2

  • Sloane Stephens defeated. No. 16 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-4

  • No. 20 Madison Keys defeats. Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

  • Marcos Giron defeats. Hamad Medjedovic 6-0, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0

  • Peyton Stearns beats. Katerina Siniakova 7-6(7), 6-2

Unfortunately, Brandon Nakashima, Alycia Parks and Aleksandar Kovacevic did not win and will not advance to the second round.

Notable upheavals

  • Number 10 Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t survive a game against clay-court specialist Fabio Fognini, but he could have expected that. Auger-Aliassime is suffering from a shoulder injury that turned his 2023 season into a nightmare.

  • Lucky loser Elina Avanesyan, ranked No. 134 in the world, defeated No. 12 Belinda Bencic in three sets. The 20-year-old was overjoyed, and cried after winning the biggest game of his young career.

  • Sloane Stephens, unseeded at Roland Garros and currently ranked No. 30 in the world, defeated No. 16 seed Karolina Pliskova in straight sets. Pliskova didn’t win any matches in the first set, and although she struggled in the second set, Stephens was too much for her.

PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 29: Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand against Aleksander Kovacevic of the United States during their first round match on day two of the 2023 French Open at Roland Garros on May 29, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – MAY 29: Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand against Aleksander Kovacevic of the United States during their first round match on day two of the 2023 French Open at Roland Garros on May 29, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

Other results

  • Novak Djokovic earned a relatively easy 6-6, 6-2, 7-6(1) win over American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

  • Cam Norrie survived a serious challenge from Benoit Paire, winning 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in three hours and 33 minutes.

  • Diego Schwartzman needed the full five sets to defeat No. 32 Bernabe Zapata Miralles, and had to win the last three sets to do so, but he did and advances to the second round.

  • Elina Svitolina, unranked and contesting her first Grand Slam since giving birth to her child in October, absolutely demolished the No. 26 Madison Trevisan XX. Svitolina was lively and aggressive, which helped her win the Strasbourg Open on May 27, her first title since becoming a mother.

Highlight of the day

Alcaraz is a human highlight reel on any surface, but on clay he will take your breath away. Here he is basically going around the net to return a shot to Cobolli.

Later in the match, he returned a hard shot in a way that seemed mathematically impossible. How did he find this angle?!

What to watch on day 3

The French Open is the only Grand Slam to spread the incredibly busy first round over three days instead of just two, so on Tuesday we will see the last matches of the first round played out. And there are some big names.

  • No. 1 Iga Swiatek vs. Cristina Busca

  • No. 2 Daniil Medvedev vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild

  • No. 4 Casper Ruud vs. Elias Ymer

  • #4 Elena Rybakina vs. Brenda Fruhvirtova

  • No. 6 Coco Gauff vs. Rebekah Masarova

  • No. 6 Holger Rune vs. Christopher Eubanks

  • N°7 Ons Jabeur against Lucia Bronzetti

There are a handful of Americans still scheduled to play their first-round matches on Tuesday, including one of the top Americans on the women’s tour.

  • No. 6 Coco Gauff vs. Rebeka Masarova

  • No. 9 Taylor Fritz vs. Martin Mmoh (American vs. American)

  • No. 16 Tommy Paul vs. Dominic Stricker

  • No. 32 Shelby Rogers vs. Petra Martic

  • Christopher Eubanks vs. No. 6 Holger Rune

  • Emma Navarro vs. Erika Andreeva

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