Paris 2024 tennis: Rafael Nadal ousted as Carlos Alcaraz, other stars advance to third round of men's and women's singles
The singles tennis tournament at Paris 2024 saw its first high-profile exit when two-time Olympic champion Rafael Nadal of Spain suffered a second-round defeat to Serbia's Novak Djokovic on Monday 29 July.
The rest of the top contenders kept their medal hopes alive with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff joining Djokovic in the next round.
Alcaraz won his first set with relative ease before his Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor matched him shot-for-shot in the second set.
Alcaraz called a medical timeout late in the second set, but jogged back into the arena showing no sign of discomfort to continue the tussle where Griekspoor gave him a proper workout. The Spaniard edged Griekspoor in the second-game tiebreaker to claim a 6-1, 7-6 win.
There were also victories for Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud in the second round of the men’s singles tournament.
Top women’s seed Swiatek of Poland continued her storming run at the tournament, inflicting a crushing 6-1, 6-1 defeat on Frenchwoman Diane Parry.
The five-time Grand Slam champion strolled into the third round as she continued her spectacular run at Stade Roland Garros. The 23-year-old Swiatek looked at home at the same venue where she recently won her fourth French Open title. She is bidding to become the second player behind Steffi Graf in 1988 to win Roland Garros and the Olympics in the same year.
Former US Open champion Gauff was equally devastating, beating Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle 6-1, 6-1 to remain unbeaten on her Olympic debut.
Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who lost to Swiatek in this year’s French Open final, also made it into the next round of the women’s singles tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Magda Linette of Poland.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková of Czechia came out on top in her second-round clash against Wang Xinyu of the People's Republic of China with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada was a second-round casualty, while Rio 2016 silver medallist Angelique Kerber of Germany is still going strong in the tournament with her 6-4- 4-6, 6-4 win over Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania.