French Open 2025 Day Six Recap – Perfect Tennis

Day Six at Roland Garros served up another helping of drama, comebacks, and clay-court battles as the men’s draw wrapped up the Round of 64.

From Lorenzo Musetti digging deep to turn around a slow start, to Holger Rune living on the edge yet again, and Tommy Paul outlasting Karen Khachanov in a five-set slugfest despite battling cramps, Friday had a mix of everything.

Even Carlos Alcaraz had to sweat through a tense fourth set under the lights, while Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and Daniel Altmaier all advanced with varying degrees of ease.

Below, I’ve rounded up the key results and my thoughts on each match from Day Six in Paris.

Day Six French Open 2025 Round of 64 Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Lorenzo Musetti (8)
Mariano Navone
4-6 6-4 6-3 6-2

Holger Rune (10)
Quentin Halys
4-6 6-2 5-7 7-5 6-2

Frances Tiafoe (15)
Sebastian Korda (23)
7-6(6) 6-3 6-4

Daniel Altmaier
Hamad Medjedovic 
3-6 6-3 6-3 6-2

Alexei Popyrin (25)
Nuno Borges
6-4 7-6(11) 7-6(5)

Tommy Paul (12)
Karen Khachanov (24)
6-3 3-6 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3

Ben Shelton (13)
Matteo Gigante (Q)
6-3 6-3 6-4

Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Damir Dzhumur
6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4

Daily Recap

Lorenzo Musetti (8) def Mariano Navone 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Lorenzo Musetti overcame a set and a break deficit to defeat Mariano Navone 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday, matching his best result at the clay-court Grand Slam.

The eighth-seeded Italian found himself trailing 4-6, 0-2 against the steady Argentine, but Musetti has a lot of guile and eventually found his footing with some sharp backhands, clever slices, and heavy forehands to disrupt Navone’s game.

I figured Navone would be a test as he’s your stereotypical South American clay courts, and he’s made finals in Rio and Bucharest this season, so you can’t take him lightly.

Muetti started poorly, landing 19 unforced errors in the first set, but he tightened up his game to secure victory in 3 hours and 28 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Musetti now eyes his first Roland Garros quarter-final when he faces 10th seed Holger Rune, whom he trails 0-2 in the head-to-head.

It was completely different conditions from the past two matches. The ball was bouncing not that high, and at the beginning of today, I was a bit surprised; physically, I couldn’t find my best shape. However, after I started to feel better, I eventually began to improve my game, and ultimately, I’m happy and proud of my comeback. I have put some order in my tennis house. It’s not easy for me to make a decision, so I think the key is that I have more ideas about what I need to do on the court. I have worked extensively on my attitude and mental side. For a match like this, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to come back today, so I’m proud of what I’ve achieved this season so far. Musetti on his win.

Holger Rune (10) def Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2

Holger Rune battled back from the edge of defeat on Court Philippe-Chatrier, outlasting French wildcard Quentin Halys 4-6, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the Roland Garros fourth round for the fourth straight year.

The Dane has a habit of getting dragged into lengthy matches that put him on the brink of defeat, and he faced elimination at 4-5, 15/30 in the fourth set.

You also know he’ll fight hard, and when the pressure is off, he often ramps up aggression, which he did here, seizing control to win nine of the final 11 games.

I tried to change some things. The first set didn’t go how I wanted it to. I tried to adapt, with the conditions being much different today. I put more spin on the ball as the ball was flying more, but the player who took more risk was the most efficient today. I am very happy with how I played in the fourth and in the fifth, I think that is some tennis I can use moving forward in the tournament. Rune on his comeback.

Tommy Paul (12) def Karen Khachanov (24) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3

Tommy Paul showcased his resilience battling a lower ab injury and late-match cramps to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 and claim his 200th tour-level victory, advancing to the fourth round of the clay-court major for the first time.

After dropping a break lead in the fourth set, Paul surged in the fifth, storming to a 4-0 lead with heavy hitting to seal the win after a gruelling four hours and seven minutes and he’s up to number 9 in the rankings.

He won’t win the tournament, but Paul has been one of my surprises of the clay court swing with how he has played.

I criticised him for doing the typical American thing and skipping the start of it, but he turned up in Rome and played great, and he’s followed it up in Paris, coming back from two sets down vs Fucsovics and now clawing his way past Khachanov.

Numbers-wise, it’s hardly anything special, as Khachanov is the first player he’s ever beaten in Paris ranked lower than 90 😂, but I like how he’s going about his matches. 

Paul will face 25th seed Alexei Popyrin in the next round, following the Australian’s 6-4, 7-6(11), 7-6(5) victory over Nuno Borges.

Like a million bucks, I feel pretty good. I love playing in front of you guys, it’s been an awesome crowd for my first three matches here, I appreciate all the support. Hopefully we can keep it going. I love this stuff, it’s so much fun playing out here, honestly. Not all matches are four hours long, but that was an awesome battle on both ends of the court. We both played well and that’s what it’s all about. Paul on his physical condition.

Carlos Alcaraz def Damir Dzhumur 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4

Carlos Alcaraz battled through a late challenge during the night session on Friday, fending off Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round and keep his title defence on track.

Alcaraz dominated early but faced a setback when he trailed by a break in the fourth set. Despite being broken while serving for the match at 5-4, the World No. 2 regrouped, breaking back to secure the victory after a rollercoaster three hours and 14 minutes.

It was one of those matches that was great for the neutral but not so fun if you’re an Alcaraz fan, as he made hard work of it. 

Dzhumur isn’t known as a world beater, so just looking at the score, you’d think it was Alcaraz’s own undoing.

However, Dzhumur came up with some phenomenal shot-making. While relatively diminutive in stature, he matched Alcaraz from the baseline and also came out on top during some of the cat-and-mouse net exchanges thanks to his speedy scrambling.

Did Carlos produce his best tennis? No, but he wasn’t playing poorly. He perhaps lacked some steely focus on the big points, but credit to the Bosnian, who has his ranking back up this season after dropping out of the top 100 in recent years.

Alcaraz now prepares for a fourth-round showdown with 13th seed Ben Shelton, whom he leads 2-0 in their head-to-head.

French Open 2025 Day Seven Round of 32 Matches

If you spotted one match is missing, then well done, Andrey Rublev received a walkover this evening after Arthur Fils withdrew. I guess that puts to bed the theory he was only cramping and his injury was genuine.