Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga delighted the French crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier by rallying from two sets down to defeat Marcos Baghdatis in their second-round match on Thursday, 6-7(6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. 

The early stages of the match saw Tsonga unable to convert several opportunities. The Frenchman missed a set point in the opening set tie-break and couldn’t take advantage of break point chances to lead 3-0 lead in the second set. A volley winner on break point gave Baghdatis a 5-3 lead in the second set and he closed things out one game later to take a commanding two-set lead.

True to his competitive nature, Tsonga refused to bow out quietly. Finding the range on his shots, he raced out to a 4-1 lead in the third set and brought the crowd into the match after clinching it. Although he did more running in the baseline rallies throughout the fourth set, it was Baghdatis who appeared tired as the Frenchman brought the match to a deciding set.

Tsonga once again grabbed an early break of serve to start the fifth set. Continuing to chase down drop shots after more than three hours of play, he converted on his third break point chance at 4-2 and comfortably served out the match one game later. He improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Baghdatis to 7-1.

The win marked the third time in Tsonga’s career that he came back from two sets down. The last time he did was against Roger Federer in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2011. Next up is former Roland Garros semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

In the first upset of the day, Gulbis prevailed in his second-round over No. 26 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Gulbis was in peak form throughout the contest, firing 60 winners to just 25 unforced errors. Tsonga leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-2, but Gulbis won their most recent match in 2014 at the ATP World Tour 250 event in Marseille

Twelfth seed David Goffin continued his impressive form by winning over Carlos Berlocq of Argentina, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4. The Belgian was in full flight in the latter stages, hitting 22 winners to 13 unforced errors in the last two sets. He will play veteran Nicolas Almagro of Spain for a place in the second week.

“I’m very happy to win the match in three sets against such a good clay player in the second round of a Grand Slam,” said Goffin. “That gives me confidence.”

Almagro reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in three years by defeating Jiri Vesley of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. The former World No. 9 racked up 19 break points throughout the contest and converted on six of them. Almagro leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Goffin 3-0, but they haven’t played in over three years.

Novak Djokovic is through to the third round at Roland Garros, but he’s not content with his current form.

The No. 1 seed continued his quest for the career Grand Slam on Thursday by overcoming a tricky match against qualifier Steve Darcis of Belgium, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic had an early break in all three sets, but Darcis came back in each of them before the World No. 1 regained the momentum.

“I was pleased to get the job done in three sets, but there were things that I definitely didn’t like in my game today,” said Djokovic. “Too many unforced errors from the first or second shot of the rally. Credit to Steve for playing a lot of variety and mixing up the pace…[but] hopefully that’s not going to happen in the later rounds.”

Djokovic once again has coach Boris Becker accompanying him this tournament. He credited the six-time Grand Slam champion with his outstanding year and said the German has brought noticeable changes to the mental part of his game.

“Boris was the first choice [as coach]. I’ve had some great times with him the past couple of years and learned a lot from a psychological point of view of how to handle things on the tour, on and off the court,” said Djokovic. “He’s somebody who has personally experienced those ups and downs, so he can convey that knowledge and experience to me. His contribution to the team is definitely big and everything has worked in harmony so far.” 

Djokovic will next play Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain, who is in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. The Serbian defeated Bedene in the opening round of last year’s Australian Open, but is expecting a different match this time.

“We practised a bit in Monte-Carlo and a couple of other places. He’s a good guy, very talented and a quick motion for his first serve,” said Djokovic. “He doesn’t have anything to lose and I’m sure he’ll give it his all. I just hope I can sustain the pressure that comes from him and enjoy my time on the court.”

In a matchup between rising ATP World Tour players, #NextGen star Borna Coric prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4), 7-6(6) against 20^th seed Bernard Tomic on Thursday at Roland Garros. Coric, No. 47 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, erased a set point during the fourth-set tie-break to avoid a fifth set.

The 19 year old reaches the third round at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year. Last year, he lost to American Jack Sock in straight sets. This year the Croat will face 14^th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who dispatched Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-1.

“I think I have very good quality of tennis at the moment, especially on the clay court, and I think it’s going to come,” Coric said of more success.

Bautista Agut leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Coric 2-1, including two clay-court wins last year. By reaching the third round, the Spaniard matches his best result at Roland Garros (2014).

Another 19-year-old #NextGen star also moved on in Paris on Thursday. Alexander Zverev upset the home crowd by beating French wild card Stephane Robert 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. “You can feel immediately that his game is where it has to be… His backhand shots are really good. There is not much effort. His tennis is well balanced… and that’s a great strength of his,” Robert said of Zverev. “It’s nice to see this. He’s going to be one of the future big names.”

The 36 year old, No. 90 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was playing in his sixth Roland Garros main draw. “I felt good during the tournament, and there were things I had to work on. That’s very, very positive for me,” Robert said.

Zverev, in his Roland Garros main draw debut, advances to the third round, his best showing yet at a Grand Slam. The German will face 13^th seed Dominic Thiem in a rematch of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur final on Saturday. Thiem won that contest 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 to gain a 2-0 advantage in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

Rafael Nadal recorded his 200^th Grand Slam match win on Thursday at Roland Garros, but he isn’t counting.

The No. 4 seed and nine-time Roland Garros champion needed less than two hours to move into the third round by defeating Facundo Bagnis of Argentina, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. He became just the eighth tennis player in tennis history to achieve 200 Grand Slam wins,

“My first Grand Slam was at Wimbledon in 2003. It had always been a dream for me,” said Nadal. “But the most important thing is a victory in the second round and not the 200 victories. It’s only another number.”

Nadal has been in top form the past few days, dropping 10 games in his first two matches. It’s the most dominant start he’s had in a Grand Slam since Roland Garros in 2014, when he lost just as many games in the first two rounds.

“I won two matches with comfortable results. I played the way that I had to play to be in the third round,” said Nadal. “After a difficult first three games today, I played a solid match with not many mistakes and having control of the situation most of the time. I need to keep playing better if I want to have chances in the next rounds.”

Nadal will next play Marcel Granollers of Spain. He leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Granollers by 4-0, but said past results won’t factor into his preparation.

“Each year is different and things keep changing. We have a new story to write. The only thing I know is that I have reached the third round,” said Nadal. “I just need to play my matches each day. I know there are still things I can improve, so I’m still practising and working on them.”

Ahead of Roland Garros, Borna Coric, Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev were featured in the French weekly news magazine Paris Match. Zverev (No. 41), Coric (No. 47) and Fritz (No. 67) are the top three teenagers in the Emirates ATP Rankings going into the second Grand Slam event of the 2016 season.

The three #NextGen players were inspired to pick up the sport by their parents. Zverev is the third professional ATP World Tour player from his family, following in the footsteps of father Alexander Sr. and older brother Mischa Zverev. Fritz’s mother Kathy May, a former World No. 10, won seven WTA Tour titles and reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals in her career. Coric started playing tennis at age five under the guidance of his father Damir.

At Roland Garros this week, Coric has defeated Fritz in straight sets in the first round before upsetting 20th seed Bernard Tomic to set up a third-round clash with No.14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Zverev saw off Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Stephane Robert in the opening two rounds and will next face No. 13 Dominic Thiem.