Norway’s Casper Ruud, aiming for his first French Open triumph after being runner-up in the past two years, kicked off his quest with a convincing victory over Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves on Tuesday.
Ruud, who claimed titles in Barcelona and Geneva on clay before Roland Garros, dominated with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 triumph and now awaits either Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot in the next round.
“It feels fantastic to be back at Roland Garros,” he commented. “Hopefully, I can build on my past successes here.” Ruud faced a straight-sets defeat against Novak Djokovic in last year’s final, following a lopsided loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 championship. His bid for the 2022 US Open title also ended in disappointment against Carlos Alcaraz.
