Tsitsipas and Ruud were upset on the same day, and the French Open ushered in the rise of new forces

On the fourth match day of the 2025 French Open, the second round of the men's singles was marked by two upsets, with No. 7 seed Ruud and No. 20 seed Tsitsipas losing in the second round, marking a delicate turning point in an era. While the two lesser-known challengers, Burges and Gigante, have pulled off miracles, Roland Garros' clay courts are in the midst of a fierce transition between old and new.

Two-time French Open runner-up (2022, 2023) Ruud won the first set, but was defeated by Portugal's Burges with a score of 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-0, and the last set swallowed the shame of "doughnuts".

Ruud showed the style of a clay specialist in the first set, with a fluid forehand and precise landing control that kept Burges exhausted. But from the second set, the situation changed dramatically, and Burges suddenly found the key to Ruud's tactics - he continued to attack Ruud's backhand with high-bouncing topspin balls, forcing the Norwegian to keep retreating. "I realized he was scared of my topspin. "Every time I hit those high bounce balls, he gets hesitant. "

The technical statistics reveal the brutal truth of the rout: Ruud made a whopping 32 unforced errors in the final three sets, while winning by a measly nine points. More worryingly, his first-serve success rate plummeted from 72% in the first set to 48% in the final set. "Today I was completely lost. Ruud admitted, "Burges played smart, he deserved this victory." "

While the crowd at Susan Lengren had yet to recover from the shock of Ruud's exit, 20th seed Tsitsipas suffered an even worse Waterloo at Simone Mathieu.

Once upon a time, Tsitsipas wrote his own legend on the clay courts of Paris. The glory of the 2021 runner-up is still fresh in the mind, and his epic five-set clash with Novak Djokovic is still being talked about by tennis fans to this day. Now, four years later, the Greek suffered one of the worst defeats of his career in the second round, a 4-6 7-5 2-6 4-6 defeat to ATP qualifier Gigante, who is ranked 167th.

The match was full of drama, with Tsitsipas showing the resilience of a Grand Slam runner-up in the second set to pull one back 7-5. But then things took a turn for the worse, and Gigante was in complete control of the pace in the third set. "I sensed that he was getting frustrated. "When he started looking at the box a lot, I knew my chance had come. The dark horse's astonishing baseline stability and tireless running wiped out the power of Tsitsipas's SLR and finally caused the biggest upset since the start of the tournament.

Tsitsipas' defeat is not without a trace. He has struggled with a back injury so far this season, with a mediocre performance on clay. But even so, no one expected him to say goodbye to Paris so early. "I couldn't find the rhythm, all the tactics didn't work. Tsitsipas couldn't hide his frustration at the press conference, "It was probably one of the worst fights of my career. "

Gigant and Burges, the two upset-makers from different countries, show striking similarities. The 23-year-old Italian Gigante is 180cm tall, with a left-handed racket and a two-handed backhand, with a suffocating serve and forehand firepower; The 28-year-old is the quintessential clay specialist, with his tenacious defence and tireless movement making Ruud suffer.

Both challengers seized the crucial psychological moment – and when Tsitsipas and Ruud showed the slightest hesitation or suspicion, they swooped in like sharks smelling blood. "In Grand Slams, mental games are often more important than skill. "I could feel Ruud's confidence crumbling after the second set. "

It's worth noting that both of these "Giant Killers" have a wealth of experience in the challenge. Gigante only reached the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time this year, while Burges' previous best result in a Grand Slam was in the fourth round. "The years of grinding in small competitions have taught me how to deal with pressure. "Today I just played every point as a challenge. "

The exits of Tsitsipas and Ruud mark a profound change in the clay landscape of men's tennis. Once upon a time, names such as Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Thiem and Zverev dominated Roland Garros, but now, as the older generation of stars has aged and the new generation has yet to fully take over, the French Open has opened up like never before.

For the two winners, the challenge has just begun. Gigante will face rising American star Shelton in the third round, while Burges will take on Australia's Poplin. "I know people will see this as a fluke. "But I want to prove that we deserve to go further." "

In the night of Paris, the clay of the Stade Philippe Chartier awaits a new hero. In this uncertain 2025 season, perhaps the rise of Gigante and Burges is telling us a new story about the democratization of tennis. The only thing that is certain is that the legend of Roland Garros is forever built on unpredictable surprises.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Mei)