Emma Raducanu has been knocked out of the French Open at the second-round stage after defending champion and four-time winner Iga Swiatek proved too powerful in a 6-1 6-2 victory in Paris.

Despite a promising and competitive start to proceedings, the first set raced away from Raducanu when Swiatek turned up her power game to register two breaks and a 5-1 lead, serving the set out for a comprehensive success in the end.

Swiatek broke Raducanu early into the second set, but the Briton missed the chance to hit straight back by failing to take three break-point chances after a couple of Swiatek double faults.

Instead, Swiatek registered a nervy hold after the longest game in the match, and kicked on from there to break Raducanu once more and serve out the match.

Raducanu: It shows the distance I have to improve

The British No 2 was also swept aside by Swiatek in the Australian Open, winning just one game in January, and Raducanu admitted she struggled to contain her opponent from the start.

“I think every time we have played she plays really well,” said Raducanu.

“It kind of puts really a lot of pressure on from the beginning, makes me feel like I have to maybe do something extra or I just don’t know what to do in the moment.

“I think it does shift the dynamics of the match a bit, and then it’s very difficult to kind of stay with her as she grows in confidence.

“But it just shows, I guess, the distance that I have to improve.”

Raducanu will now switch her attention to the grass-court schedule as she works towards Wimbledon.

“I don’t feel demotivated,” she said. “I feel like since Miami I’ve really started building some momentum compared to where I came from at the start of the year and it makes me just want to keep going after a couple of days off and then get on the grass.”

Swiatek extended her winning run at the French Open to 23 matches in a row, having lifted the trophy in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

She said: “I felt good on court and I thought I could do whatever I planned and whatever I wanted to. I just needed to adjust to the wind, because the conditions were pretty tricky.

“I’m happy that I did that well and I’m through.

“I honestly just love playing here, this place really inspires me and makes me work harder. Some time off before helped me a little bit and I’m just ready to fight for it and compete.”

Italian fourth seed Jasmine Paolini is also through to the third round after a 6-3 6-3 win over Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, as is China’s Qinwen Zheng following a 6-2 6-3 win over Colombian Emiliana Arango.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina is also through after beating Hungary’s Anna Bondar 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-1 and will next face Serbia’s Olga Danilovic.

Alcaraz, Musetti book third-round places as Ruud shocked

On the men’s side of the draw, defending French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz booked his place in the third round after a dominant 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan.

“It was a great match. I started playing well. In the first set, I had really high confidence. In the second set, he started to play much better and he was really aggressive,” Alcaraz said.

“He didn’t miss at all so it was a little difficult to deal with his game in the second set but I’m really happy I stayed strong and refreshed myself.

“In the third set, I started to play better and better which helped me have a really good last two sets… I just want to show good tennis. I want to make sure people are happy watching my match as well. That’s the way I enjoy playing tennis.”

Elsewhere, Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti progressed after a straight sets 6-4 6-0 6-4 win over Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, Norway’s seventh seed Casper Ruud was beaten by Portugal’s Nuno Borges 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open finalist, blamed his own immaturity for a shock second-round loss to qualifier Matteo Gigante of Italy.

The 26-year-old Greek, a six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, was outclassed by his opponent, ranked 167th in the world, in a 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4 defeat for his earliest exit in Paris since 2018.

He has now won just two matches in total in his last four Grand Slams.

“I feel like my focus kind of faded away for quite a bit [during the match] and I wasn’t fully present in the moment,” Tsitsipas told a press conference. “I seemed to be playing immature sometimes during the match and obviously I’m not extremely happy about that.

“I would describe that immaturity, not knowing how to handle those situations a little bit more conservative and not so impulsive.”

Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.