Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the third round of the French Open after defeating Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets.

The 2021 Roland Garros runner-up won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Tsitsipas, 24, will next face unseeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman or Portuguese Nuno Borges.

“It’s a spiritual type of surface,” Tsitsipas remarked of his clay court experience in Paris.

“I’m attached to it because I’ve played on that surface since I first started playing tennis.”

Tsitsipas has never won a Grand Slam, having lost in the finals of the French and Australian Opens.

He broke Carballes Baena twice in the first set, and while he broke twice more in the second, Carballes Baena responded quickly each time, as four games in a row went against serve.

Tsitsipas won the tie-break, went up 4-0 in the third, and served out the victory in two hours and sixteen minutes.

When asked about the rituals of cleaning and watering clay courts between sets, he responded, “Those rituals, I have seen them over and over again.”

“It’s kind of ingrained in me, and it’s part of who I am.”

“It’s a purification of the soul.” It’s exactly like a knife. You let the old go and begin with the new.”