Carlos Alcaraz says he has “found the good path again” | Roland Garros Wrap, Day 2

Stream every match from Roland Garros on the Tennis Channel app, each day after 11 p.m. ET. 3 to Stream, our daily wrap of the action in Paris, highlights you three matches you'll want to read about—and then replay.

First, though, some thoughts on Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro, the latest Americans to sink in the French dirt.

Taylor Fritz wasn’t exactly sure what his problem was in his first-round loss to Daniel Altmaier on Monday, but he didn’t mince words trying to describe it.

“I am just, like, playing horrendous tennis on a lot of the important points,” said the fourth-ranked American, who became the highest-seeded casualty of the first two days at Roland Garros.

“I’m finding ways to just play the worst point possible,” he added a little later.

In case anyone forgot, he circled back to the subject at the end of his press conference.

“It’s just not happening. It’s just really a poor level from me on the points in the match where I need to be playing my best.”

At least Fritz managed to snag a set before he was hurried off the stage. The same couldn’t be said for his countrywoman and fellow Top Tenner, Emma Navarro, who made her own surprise exit in under an hour.

The No. 9 seed, who became the highest-ranked casualty on the women’s side, lost the first 11 games to 68th-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, before finally scratching out a game of her own. In a final insult, though, she went up 40-0 in the next game, only to lose it.

Navarro was—fortunately for her—spared the indignity of a post-match interview. So we don’t know her thoughts of her performance. Seems like a safe bet they weren’t good.

“The clay swing is where American momentum goes to die.” I’ve written those words more than once over the years. They aren’t quite as true as they once were, at least on the women’s side. Coco Gauff and Sofia Kenin have made finals at Roland Garros this decade, and players like Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins have gone deep and won tournaments on dirt. For the men, though, clay is still the equivalent of quicksand: No U.S. male has made the quarters at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003.

I’m finding ways to just play the worst point possible. Taylor Fritz

Fritz and Navarro had each had a good result on hard courts earlier this spring: Fritz made the semis in Miami, and Navarro won in Merida. But neither has done much since shifting to dirt, and today they lost for the usual reasons that U.S. players lose on red clay: they were playing Europeans who likely spent more time on the surface as kids, and whose topspin-heavy games are better-suited to it.

Altmaier did a good job of mixing paces and heights and playing with patience. Bouzas Maneiro did a good job of rushing Navarro and putting her on her back foot with her topspin forehand. The two Americans’ flatter strokes, built for hard courts, didn’t gain traction.

The good news for the U.S. now is that, even after losing two high seeds, the country comes to France in droves these days. Collins, Sebastian Korda, Bernarda Pera and Robin Montgomery all won their openers today; Ben Shelton and Reilly Opelka survived long matches on Sunday; and there are a dozen other Yanks in the draws, including two other Top 10 seeds in Gauff and Pegula.

We’ll see if any of them can keep from getting stuck in the mud, the way Fritz and Navarro did today. Happily for them, grass season awaits.

Badosa showed she wanted a win over Osaka, and got it

Paula Badosa d. Naomi Osaka, 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4

👉 Stream the full match replay HERE

With two Top 10-level players, who both have star quality and compelling back stories, this was probably the most high-profile of the tournament’s opening-round matches. Of course, that didn’t mean the first meeting between Osaka and Badosa would actually be competitive or exciting. We’ve seen both women have their very good days and their very bad ones.

But it turned out to be competitive and exciting in equal measure. The two traded lasers from the baseline for more than two hours in Chatrier. One line-clipping winner was met by another, as these hard-hitters tried to gauge how much risk to take from one swing to the next.

Neither player went away mentally: Badosa recovered from a tight first-set loss to roll through the second; Osaka shrugged of that second-set blowout to take an early lead in the third; and Badosa, after all of the momentum swings, calmly and quickly served out the match at 5-4, with two aces, a service winner, and a forehand winner.

As the match got tighter, both played better, and the third set saw a series of lung-busting rallies. But Badosa, who has said he has contemplated retirement because of issues both physical and mental, showed an unusual amount of fire in the third, raging at herself and her team after both winners and errors.

“I’m really happy with my performance, how I fight until the end,” Badosa said.

She wanted this one, and she got it.

Swiatek stayed more positive, and it paid off

Iga Swiatek d. Rebecca Sramkova, 6-3, 6-3

👉 Stream the full match replay HERE

Swiatek fans generally aren’t shy about expressing their support for their player, but deep down the Polish flag-wearers of Paris must have been a little nervous about what they would see on Monday. Swiatek’s game, her forehand, her confidence, her attitude, her self-belief: All of them had taken a nosedive in Madrid and Rome. You never knew where her next shot was going to land, and neither did she.

Through the first six games of her opener on Monday against Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova, Swiatek didn’t do a whole lot to allay her fans’ fears. The two split those games evenly, as Swiatek sent her share of shots—especially forehands and returns—flying waywardly. But she didn’t get negative, she didn’t complain about her errors, and she broke for 4-3 with a swing volley winner and a backhand winner. Her scream after the last shot felt like it came with a lot of pent-up frustration. Two games later, at set point, Swiatek shredded a vintage crosscourt backhand winner.

In the past, Swiatek might not have lost another game. But this win wouldn’t be a classic Swiatek steamroll. The shanks returned and she went down 1-3 in the second set. Again, though, she stayed positive and it paid off with a pair of winning returns to break back and regain control.

“I think it was a great first round and a really solid performance,” Swiatek said.

Does that sound like someone determined to look on the bright side? If so, that’s not a bad attitude for her to have.

Alcaraz said he has “found the good path again” after his lull-free victory

Carlos Alcaraz d. Gulio Zeppieri, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

👉 Stream the full match replay HERE

Speaking of seeing the bright side, here’s what Alcaraz had to say after his own first-round win:

“Well, today was a great match. I felt great hitting the balls, moving. I think everything today was great.”

Even first-round jitters, and a surprising court assignment in Lenglen, didn’t faze him.

“I expected worse level for me, honestly. First round for every tournament is never easy to adapt your game to the conditions and get used to it,” he said. “Is great to have these feelings in the first round.”

Alcaraz went up a break early in the first set and never let the match out of his grasp. We’re used to seeing lulls and rough patches from him, but none came today; he may have been even better in the final set. That’s the way it’s been for Alcaraz since he faced Jack Draper in the quarters in Rome. Starting then, he seemed to see his RG title defense coming over the horizon, and he began to focus and play accordingly.

“Right now I think I found a really good path again, and I’m trying to, let’s say, having really good level during the whole tournament or even, you know, during the whole match,” he says.