The day session on Court Philippe-Chatrier saw world number two Carlos Alcaraz in full display, bringing his A-game to beat an inspired Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, achieving his 20th win at Roland-Garros on Wednesday.
The Spaniard came out on fire, cruising to take the opener in just 28 minutes. But the Hungarian player flipped the script in the second set, which he earned by playing his best tennis.
From there, the reigning champion kicked up a level, brilliant with his shotmaking to dismantle the world No. 56 in four sets after two hours and nine minutes.
“It was a great, great match,” Alcaraz outlined courtside. “I played well in the first set. I had really high confidence. In the second set, he started to play much better, really aggressively, and didn’t miss at all.
“It was a little bit difficult dealing with his game in the second set, but I was pleased to stay strong and refresh in the third set. I started to play better and better. I had a really good last two sets.”
Next, he will meet world No. 69 Damir Dzumhur, who took down 31st seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in four sets on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The four-time Grand Slam winner and the 33-year-old have never faced one another before at tour level.
Meanwhile, eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, yet to drop a set, sailed past Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 to record his 10th career win at the red clay major on Court Simonne-Mathieu, moving through the third round.
Addressing his impressive run of form through the clay swing, the Italian commented: “It’s been a tremendous clay season so far, but the ambitions now are higher, and of course, here, I never reached more than the fourth round.
“Hopefully, this year will be the year, and the mentality is to try and beat everyone I have the chance to play against everyone here, and hopefully, I will take these chances.”
Rome semifinalist will square off against Argentine Mariano Navone, who ousted American Reilly Opelka 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-3.
Elsewhere, fellow Italian Matteo Gigante claimed the biggest win of his career by upsetting 20th seed and former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Following a strong showing, the qualifier progressed to the third round at Slam level for the first time, contesting his second major main draw.
In the next round, the 23-year-old will face off against 13th seed Ben Shelton, who received a walkover by injured Frenchman Hugo Gaston.
Earlier, world No. 41 Nuno Borges stunned two-time Roland-Garros runner-up Casper Ruud, recording a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 win, his first against a Top 10 adversary.
The Norwegian, who captured his maiden Masters 1000 title in Madrid early in May, was hampered by a left knee injury.
Speaking about the physical issue in his post-match press conference, the 7th seed remarked: “It’s hopefully nothing too serious. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been struggling a little bit with knee pain on and off. That is why I decided to pull out of Geneva after Rome, do my best, and heal to be ready here.”
Adding: “It’s been okay in practice because I am able to control it a bit more. When you play a match, you go full-on, no matter what happens.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Nuno because I think he played a phenomenal match, a really high level.”
The Portuguese player, who made it to the fourth round at the US Open last year - lost to Daniil Medvedev - became the first man ever from his country to reach the third round at the Parisian Grand Slam.
Borges will play in-form 25th-seed Alexei Popyrin; the three-time ATP titlist outlasted Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
Furthermore, Tommy Paul, who arrived in the City of Lights off the back of a semifinal run in Rome, got tested by the experienced Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
The world No. 12 rallied from two sets down to stay on course at the tournament, producing a 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 comeback win.
The 12th seed will meet world No. 24 Karen Khachanov; the Moscow native dug deep to topple Austrian player Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
The 28-year-old American leads Khachanov 2-1 in their series.
For his part, 10th seed Holger Rune wrapped up action, edging Emilio Nava 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 under the lights on Court Philippe-Chatrier, setting a Friday matchup with Frenchman Quentin Halys.
The Dane leads the Frenchman 1-0 in their series, having played one another last year at Wimbledon.