Clearly hampered by a bad left knee, two-time French Open finalist Casper Ruud dropped 13 of the last 14 games and lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0 to Nuno Borges in the second round at Roland-Garros on Wednesday, then revealed he had been playing in pain off-and-on throughout the clay-court season.

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

He’s been taking pain-killing and anti-inflammatory pills the past several weeks, and did so again Wednesday. But Ruud said the knee began bothering him in the first set against Borges, who is ranked 41st and became the first Portuguese man to get to the French Open’s third round.

In other action Wednesday, both defending champions advanced at Court Philippe-Chatrier. Carlos Alcaraz overcame a one-set blip to defeat Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and Iga Swiatek had far less trouble dispatching 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 to extend her French Open winning streak to 23 matches.

Olympic silver medalist and Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic lost to unseeded American Bernarda Pera 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3). No. 10 Holger Rune of Denmark beat unseeded American Emilio Nava 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 and No. 12-seeded American Tommy Paul rallied from two sets down to beat Marton Fucsovics.

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

“One thing, one thing. I always wanted to do that. I hope everyone follow me,” the 22-year-old Spaniard said after completing a brief interview with Mats Wilander.

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

Perhaps fittingly, it is to the tune of a Spanish paso doble. It goes “ Po-po-po-po-po-po po-lolo ” — as the French write it — and is always followed by a pause and then an “Olé.”

A smiling Alcaraz let the crowd do the “Olé” part, then slapped hands with Wilander before they walked off the clay court to loud applause.

The second round concludes today with 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic taking on France’s Corentin Moutet. No. 2-seeded Coco Gauff, against Tereza Valentova, and No. 3 Jessica Pegula, against Ann Li in an all-American match, are among the top women in action.

Golf

Tiger Woods’ 16-year-old son, Charlie, finished with a three-round score of 15-under 201 at the Team TaylorMade Invitational on Wednesday in winning his first American Junior Golf Association event at the Streamsong Resort Black Course in Bowling Green, Florida.

Woods began the day tied at 9-under 135 and finished with a final round of 6-under 66 to top a 71-player field that included four of the top-five ranked AJGA’s players.

Woods’ final round featured eight birdies and two bogeys, and he closed with four straight pars. He won the event by three strokes ahead of a three-way tie between fifth-ranked player Luke Colton, Willie Gordon and Phillip Dunham.

College basketball

The ACC announced the matchups for its 2025-26 men’s basketball season, with Cal and Stanford’s home slates highlighted by visits from blue blood programs Duke and North Carolina.

The conference is switching to an 18-game schedule for the Bay Area schools’ second season in the league. In addition to home-and-homes against each other, Cal will face Georgia Tech twice, while Stanford gets Notre Dame, with 14 other games apiece split across the conference.

Clemson, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU and Georgia Tech will all visit the Bay Area. Cal will not play NC State and Stanford misses Syracuse.

Dates, times and television information will be provided by the ACC in September.