Thiago Agustin Tirante recovered from a 4-1 deficit, but Alejandro Davidovich Fokina still held firm to take the first set 6-4 as second-round play began on Day 4 of the 2026 French Open at Roland Garros.
The No. 21 seed had the answers when it mattered and won the set on serve, turning back the pressure after Tirante’s surge had briefly changed the shape of the match. On a hot, sunny day in Paris, the opening exchanges reflected the demands of Roland Garros, where momentum can shift quickly and a slow start does not always decide the outcome.
The match sat squarely inside the second round, where the tournament’s early upsets and recoveries often give way to the higher seeds’ ability to absorb pressure and reset. Tirante’s fight back from 4-1 down showed he was not going quietly, but Davidovich Fokina’s steadiness in closing out the set suggested why the No. 21 seed remained in control after the opening exchanges.
What happens next in the match will turn on whether Tirante can keep forcing the Spaniard into longer stretches on return, or whether Davidovich Fokina’s serve continues to settle the contest. For now, the first set belonged to the seed who handled the key points cleanly and protected his lead when the pressure rose.
