PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Just a day after her 22nd birthday, defending champion and world No.1 Iga Swiatek notched a straight-set victory on Thursday, while men's singles eighth seed Jannik Sinner fell to Daniel Altmaier in a five-set thriller.

Top seed Swiatek took one hour and 29 minutes to defeat American contender Claire Liu 6-4, 6-0, advancing to the third round.

"I was able to play a little bit better in the second set, and I kind of used the first set to get more information and get into the rhythm, but Claire played pretty well," Swiatek reflected after her 30th win of the season. "I'm happy that I'm into the third round and I have a chance to play more matches here."

The three-time Grand Slam champion is set to face China's world No. 80 Wang Xinyu, who triumphed over Sweden's Rebecca Peterson to reach her first third round at a major in her career.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, fresh off her win at the Italian Open last week, defeated 18-year-old Czech player Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-3, marking her eighth consecutive victory on clay. The reigning Wimbledon champion and this year's Australian Open finalist further extended her 2023 record to 32-7, outdoing any other players on the Tour. Rybakina, the 23-year-old fourth seed, will next face Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo.

In an impressive feat, 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva continued her spectacular run at Roland Garros. The teenager managed to lose only three games against Diane Parry, reaching the third round and becoming the youngest to achieve this since Sesil Karatantcheva made the 2005 quarterfinals at 15.

In the men's tournament, Altmaier upset Sinner in a grueling five-set battle. He saved and wasted match points before finally securing a 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 victory in five hours and 26 minutes. This epic match is the longest this year at the clay-court major so far.

"Playing every point you can with the best effort, that's what keeps you in reality," said Altmaier, commenting on how he saved Sinner's match points. "I was just thinking that, and the competition says it all. We've had historic matches with so many match points. I don't know if you can call this a 'historical' match, but I think it was one to remember."

Despite failing to serve out the match at 5-4 and Sinner saving four match points in the nail-biting final game, the 24-year-old German world No.79 dug deep to seal the victory, marking his second third-round appearance on the red clay.

A bewildered Sinner remarked, "What happened? That's a good question. I had my opportunities. I couldn't find a right way how to win the points. I was a little bit unfortunate at some points and he played it on the tape of the net.

"But this is the sport. I will for sure come back stronger."

Last year's runner-up Casper Ruud secured his place in the next round with a four-set victory over Italy's Giulio Zeppieri, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. The fourth seed is set to face Roland Garros newcomer, China's Zhang Zhizhen in the round of 32.

Germany's 22nd seed Alexander Zverev, a two-time semifinalist in the past two years, breezed through in straight sets against Slovakia's Alex Molcan in the night match on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 26-year-old secured a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 victory in one hour and 58 minutes, setting up a third-round clash with 12th seed Frances Tiafoe. Enditem

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