Alcaraz sings to French Open fans after winning second-round match

After winning his second-round match Wednesday at the French Open, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz finally got to do something he always wanted: sing to the fans at Roland Garros.

Alcaraz had beaten Fabian Marozsan of Hungary 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and just completed a brief interview with Mats Wilander on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

So the fans thought that was it, but Alcaraz was not done.

"One thing, one thing. I always wanted to do that. I hope everyone can follow me," the 22-year-old Spaniard said.

Then, leaning into the microphone, he sang the familiar-sounding refrain often belted out by crowds at Roland-Garros.

Perhaps fittingly, it's to the tune of a Spanish paso doble. It went "Po-po-po-po-po-po po-lolo" – as the French write it – and is always followed by a pause and then an "Ole."

A smiling Alcaraz let the crowd do the "Ole" part, then embraced Wilander before they walked off the clay court to loud applause.

Alcaraz later said that he had been thinking about singing the song after an interview last year here, but it never happened.

His game on red clay is very much in-tune, too, with the four-time Grand Slam champion winning 29 of his past 31 matches on the surface.

"I just love it here and had some really great moments," Alcaraz said. "I hope people leave the court with a smile."

Alcaraz will face unseeded Damir Dzumhur in the third round.

In other action, clearly hampered by a bad left knee, two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud dropped 13 of the last 14 games and was eliminated by Nuno Borges 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0.

Ruud reached at least the semifinals the past three years in Paris – he was the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023 – and this exit was his earliest at the tournament since bowing out in the second round on his debut in 2018.

He's been taking pain-killing and anti-inflammatory pills the past several weeks, and did so again facing Borges. However, the No. 7 seed said his knee began bothering him in the first set.

Borges, who ranks 41st, became the first Portuguese man to get to the French Open's third round.