The tournament lost yet another Top 10 seed Thursday as Italian No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner went down in a marathon to Daniel Altmaier 6-7, 7-6(9-7), 1-6, 7-6(7-4), 7-5 in five hours, 26 minutes.

In a rematch of their 5-setter from the US Open, Sinner held two match in the fourth on the German’s serving including a net-clipper.

In the fifth, a fading Sinner got broken but Altmaier couldn’t serve it out. Sinner leveled at 5-all only to get broken with ease. Altmaier somehow saved multiple break points and won the match on his fifth match point in an incredible, exhausting finish.

“Playing every point you can with the best effort, that definitely keeps you in reality,” the 24-year-old Altmaier said. “I was just thinking of that and well, the competition says it all. I think we have had historical matches.

“There were so many match points there, there and there. I don’t know if you can call it a historical match but I think it was one to remember.”

Sinner suffered his earliest Grand Slam loss in seven events.

“What happened? That’s a good question,” Sinner said. “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. Also match point I smashed, and he played it on the tape of the net.

“But, you know, this is the sport. I will for sure come back stronger,” he added. “Honestly, I felt very prepared for here. Mentally I felt good. Physically we were working hard. Long, long practice sessions.

“It’s tough, you know, when you work so hard and you don’t take the reward. But, this is not a sprint. This sport is a marathon, so I will keep going with the hard work, and I will also get my rewards. It’s a tough one, yes, but it doesn’t end here.”

Former semifinalist Alexander Zverev moved into Chatrier at night and rocked Alex Molchan 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

The American duo of Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz both rallied from a set down to win in four sets. Tiafoe took down the dangerous qualifier Aslan Karatsev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 while Fritz handled Arthur Rinderknech 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in front of a hostile night crowd on Lenglen.

2022 Casper Ruud was strong in a 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 win over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.

“It was a tough match,” Ruud said. “I started well, I got a break early and served well myself. That’s the beauty of best-of-five sets. In a normal match I’d have won 6-3, 6-2 but here you have the chance to fight back. He did, he played much better in the third set and fourth set and it became very tough.

“In the end I served for the match, he played well and then it gets pretty physical out here so I’m very happy to come through and not having to play a fifth set.”

Also on Thursday, No. 15 Borna Coric defeated Pedro Cachin in five sets 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Chile’s Nicolas Jarry kept hot taking out No. 16 Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina bounced 18th-seeded Alex De Minaur 6-3, 7-6(7-2), 6-3. No. 23 seed Francisco Cerundolo topped qualifier Yannick Hanfmann of Germany 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.

28th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov ousted Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(7-4), 6-3, 6-4. The 27th-seeded Yoshihito Nishioka toppled Max Purcell 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. and Thiago Seyboth Wild backed up his big Daniil Medvedev win defeating Guido Pella 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Third round play gets underway on Friday with No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz collides with No. 26 Denis Shapovalov in a first-time tour-level battle.

No. 3 Novak Djokovic takes on No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Djokovic has won two of three tour-level meetings against Davidovich Fokina with the Spaniard winning on clay in Monte Carlo last year.

Also, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on Diego Schwartzman, No. 7 Andrey Rublev faces Lorenzo Sonego, No. 11 Karen Khachanov collides with Thanasi Kokkinakis, No. 13 Hubert Hurkacz gets Juan Pablo Varillas and No. 14 Cameron Norrie clashes with No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti.

FRIDAY FRENCH OPEN SCHEDULE
Court Philippe-CHATRIER – Début à 11h45
Elise MERTENS (BEL)[28] contre Jessica PEGULA (USA)[3]
Kamilla RAKHIMOVA (—) contre Aryna SABALENKA (—)[2]
Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)[3] contre Alejandro DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP)[29]

Pas avant 20h15
Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP)[1] contre Denis SHAPOVALOV (CAN)[26]

Court Suzanne-LENGLEN – Début à 11h00
Peyton STEARNS (USA) contre Daria KASATKINA (—)[9]
Lorenzo SONEGO (ITA) contre Andrey RUBLEV (—)[7]
Sloane STEPHENS (USA) contre Yulia PUTINTSEVA (KAZ)
Diego SCHWARTZMAN (ARG) contre Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE)[5]