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On Court No10 Lorenzo Sonego is beating Alexander Bublik 7-6, 6-1. It was Bublik who earlier this year earned notoriety by declaring the following:
I hate tennis with all my heart. To be honest, I don’t see something positive in being a tennis player. I only play for money. If there was no money, I would stop playing tennis instantly. I haven’t earned enough money, in any other case I would have already retired.
Potential shock alert! Herbert has wrapped up the first set against Zverev 6-2 and as I type is making a very decent start to the second, leading as he is 30-0 on his own serve.
Next up on Lenglen is the No1 seed Simona Halep, up against her fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. Halep is on a 14-match winning streak and has played Begu seven times on WTA events and won them all.
Alex Zverev is finding life much less straightforward against Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The Frenchman raced into a 3-0 lead, though Zverev has just held serve to get himself on the board.
Jack Sock has three set points in the third set against Thiem, chances to get back in the match, after twice coming from a break down to force the set to a tie-break, but he’s gone and fluffed the lot of them. The first couple are on the Thiem serve and swiftly lost, leaving him one opportunity on his own. He duly misses his first serve and then overhits a forehand. When he nets a backhand to cede the next point Thiem has a match point of his own, and a forehand wide from Sock hands it to him! Thiem goes through 6-1, 6-3, 7-6!
Hugo Gaston has just wrapped up victory over Yoshihito Nishioka on Court 5, winning 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 and thus earning himself a third-round match and a first ever meeting with Stan Wawrinka.
Poor Mikhail Kukushkin, the 32-year-old Kazakh who is attempting to get past the second round at Roland Garros for the fifth time having fallen at this hurdle in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2017. After beating the No14 seed Fabio Fognini in round one he’s been playing the 23-year-old Pedro Martinez, who had never got past the second round of any Grand Slam ever, so one of them was going to break new ground. And it’s the Spaniard, who has just prevailed 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 and will now play the American qualifier Sebastian Korda, who disposed of John Isner a little earlier.
Next up on Chatrier is the German No7 seed, Alexander Zverev, quarter-finalist in the last two years, against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the world No78 (but formerly world No2 in doubes). They have only played once before, at the French Open in 2016, when Zverev prevailed in four sets, but he has improved quite significantly since then.
On Court 14 Kei Nishikori is playing Stefano Travaglia for the dubious privilege of having to cope with Rafael Nadal in round three. The Italian, who at 28 has never got past the second round of any Grand Slam, has just won the first set 6-4.
Before we go any further, a quick clarification. This is RuPaul:
Rafael Nadal has looked a class apart for the duration of his match against America’s Mackenzie McDonald and has duly won it, 6-1, 6-0, 6-3.
Gombos v Radionov on Court 11 is perfectly poised as I type, balanced as it is at 6-2, 2-6, 5-5 and, for the fifth time in the game, deuce. Gombos won the first set, since you ask.
Diego Schwartzman, last year’s semi-finalist and finalist in Rome earlier this month (where he beat Nadal before losing to Djokovic) beats Lorenzo Giustino 6-1, 7-5. 6-0! A straightforward victory for the No12 seed, who looked a notch or two above his opponent at all times.
Schwartzman has already broken in the third set, has just held serve to go 3-0 up, and looks set fair for round three. If successful he will play the winner of the match between Norbert Gombos and Jurij Rodionov which is ongoing on Court 11. Gombos, the 30-year-old world No106 – who must be set for a return to the top 100, whose lower reaches he explored for a few months in 2017 – is 6-2, 2-6, 4-3 up in that one, a break to the good in the third.
Dominic Thiem, the No3 seed, has taken a 6-1, 6-3 lead against Jack Sock, while Diego Sebastian Schwartzman, the No12 seed, is 6-1, 7-5 up against Lorenzo Giustino.
McDonald wins the first game of the third set, and is thus ahead in a set for the first time. “Whisper it, but I actually think I prefer there being a very small crowd,” writes Luke Forrester. “The crowd at Roland-Garros is usually extremely irritating, and it’s a nice change to see the players able to serve without the regular interruptions shouted from the stands.” But without a crowd who will laugh when a ball gets stuck in the net? Or when a pigeon does something unexpected? Who?
Rafael Nadal takes a two-set lead on Philippe Chatrier, leading Mackenzie McDonald as he now does 6-1, 6-0. Poor McDonald has won 30% of points on his first serve (to Nadal’s 71%), and 33% of points on Nadal’s serve (Nadal has won two-thirds of the points on McDonald’s).
Some news from the one match (so far) today of British interest: Jonny O’Mara and his partner, Marcelo Arevalo, have thrashed their first-round opponents in the men’s doubles, Gianluca Mager and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-2, 6-2.
McDonald takes Nadal to deuce on his serve again – he’s actually played well so far – but Nadal just keeps getting the ball back, waiting for the error to come. Nadal is 6-1, 4-0 up and in total control. With that, I’ll hand back to Simon.
Kiki Bertens was playing through the pain barrier, and slumped to the ground sobbing after winning that match point. She has now called for a wheelchair to help her off court, and is struggling to even move her knee. It seems unlikely she’ll be able to play the third-round match she just earned.
Those early inroads McDonald made already feel a long time ago – Nadal breaks immediately at the start of the second set, and the American looks exasperated as a succession of rallies end in the same fashion – with a Nadal forehand whistling out of his reach. A couple of loose shots at deuce seal a double-break for Nadal, who has now won eight games in a row.
Kiki Bertens beats Sara Errani 7-6, 3-6, 9-7! After eight straight breaks of serve, Bertens holds and then races to 0-40 on Errani’s entirely unconvincing serve. The Italian somehow saves them all, even throwing in an underarm serve at one point – but Bertens gets another chance and finally wins the match with a superb angled overhead.
Here’s a blast from the past – Eugenie Bouchard has levelled her match with Daria Gavrilova at one set all. A former Wimbledon finalist, Bouchard is chasing her first trip to the third round at a slam since January 2017.
Nadal wins the first set 6-1! McDonald gets slowly sucked into baseline battles he has little to no chance of winning, and a cross-court winner gets Nadal a second break. He serves out in style, leaving his opponent chasing shadows. McDonald hasn’t done much wrong, but he’s already in trouble.
Nadal doesn’t take long to start exploiting McDonald’s willingness to move forward, breaking serve clinically to go 3-1 up. McDonald is unbowed, winning a net duel to take Nadal to deuce in the next game – but is left flailing by a forehand missile as Nadal consolidates the break.
Elsewhere, Errani breaks Bertens to get a second chance at serving out – and Bertens breaks straight back. Six-all in the third set, there. Dominic Thiem isn’t messing around – he’s taken the first set 6-1 against Jack Sock.
A bright start for McDonald, who holds comfortably thanks to some inventive serve and volley play. Thiem has already moved a break up on Jack Sock, whose first-round win was his first singles success here since 2016.
Out on court 14, Sara Errani served for the match against Kiki Bertens, but the No 5 seed broke back and we’re on serve again.
It’s a tricky opening service game for Nadal, not helped by a double fault. McDonald is surprisingly aggressive, catching the line with a clean winner, but Nadal pummels his way to the hold.
On Simonne Mathieu, Diego Schwartzman has won the first set 6-1 against Lorenzo Giustino. Don’t write the Italian off yet – he lost the first 6-0 to Corentin Moutet, and came back to win a six-hour marathon.
Nadal’s opponent is American Mackenzie McDonald, who has endured a hard road back from a hamstring injury suffered at Roland Garros last year. “The surgery was pretty big,” the American told the ATP website. “I wasn’t able to walk for the first two months. I didn’t leave my apartment.”
Afternoon all, Niall here stepping in while Simon takes a break. On Suzanne Lenglen, US Open champion Dominic Thiem is warming up for his match with Jack Sock. On Philippe Chatrier, Asimova has raced to a 57-minute, 6-2 6-0 win – which means Rafa Nadal is heading on to the court.
Sebastian Korda beats John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4! I only turned on for the decisive game, in which Isner showed no fight whatsoever and surrendered to love, but can tell you that Korda looks a) pleased, and b) quite a lot like his dad.
Over on Court 7 Korda broke a couple of games ago to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth set against Isner, and a couple of holds later is about to serve for the match at 5-4.
British interest alert! Jonny O’Mara and his Salvadoran partner Marcelo Arevalo have taken the first set against Gianluca Mager and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1! The pair were quarter-finalists at the Australian Open earlier this year, so have some pedigree.
Stan Wawrinka beats Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach round three! He really does look in fine fettle, and will next play the winner of the match between Hugo Gaston, the 20-year-old French world No239, and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. That’s currently ongoing on Court 5 and going very much in the Frenchman’s favour: he leads 6-4, 7-6, 1-0 (on serve), another game that seems to be being decided on small margins – there’s very little in the stats to split them except for break points won – Gaston has won three of six, Nishioka two of 14!
Koepfer holds serve on Lenglen to get a foothold in the fourth set. He’s still 5-1 down to Wawrinka, though, and the Swiss is looking in very fine fettle, so best not to get carried away.
The all-American match between Bernarda Pera and Amanda Anisimova, the No25 seed, was promoted from Court 14, where they had been due to follow the Errani-Bertens encounter, to Philippe Chatrier after Serena Williams’ withdrawal. Anisimova is making short work of it, and is currently 6-2. 3-0 up.
Errani holds in the next game to take the second set and level the match at 6-7, 6-3.
Errani has a couple more break points in Bertens’ next service game and wins the second of them to go 5-3 up in the second set. Bertens incidentally is unusually orange-themed today, even for her. I think it’s only her socks that are entirely orange-free.
Isner has fought back on Court 7, winning the third set against Korda to now stand at 4-6, 4-6, 6-2. Koepfer has also fought back on Lenglen, taking the third set 6-3 against Stan Wawrinka, but the Swiss is still 2-1 up in sets and now 3-0 in the fourth, with a single break.
Errani has just won a mammoth service game on Court 14, saving seven break points along the way, to take a 4-3 advantage (on serve) in the second set. Both players have won six break points in the match overall – Errani has had nine, and thus won 67% of them; Bertens has had 19, and thus won 32%. In the second set Bertens has won two out of 11 (18%).
Anna Karolína Schmiedlova beats Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-2! Schmiedlova has a formidable forehand, and three in a row set up match point with a brilliantly managed rally. Azarenka then hits a forehand of her own into the net, and it’s all over! The Slovakian did excellently to come back from that fall at the start of the second set, and Azarenka’s brief improvement after it, and pretty much outplayed the No10 seed there.
Azarenka’s win percentage on second serve in this match is just 38%, while Schmiedlova is on 55%. Talking of trouble on second serve, over on Court 14 Errani’s figure in the entire match is just 14%, three points out of a possible 21. She has however broken back in the second set against Bertens, which is currently tied at 3-3.
Too good! Schmiedlova smashes a forehand away for a clean winner, is a double break up and about to serve for the second set and the match. Azarenka had a couple of game points there but gave them up a little overeasily (she’s now 18-7 up on unforced errors in this set) and now has a hell of a fight on her hands if she’s to stay in this tournament and doesn’t look remotely inclined to win it.
Azarenka is 14-5 ahead on unforced errors in this second set, and there were three of them in the most recent game to allow Schmiedlova to hold to 30 and take a 4-2 lead in this set.
Schmiedlova breaks to take a 3-2 lead in the second set, and Azarenka is once again in a whole heap of trouble.
Out on Court 7, where the all-American battle between Korda and Isner is ongoing, the ace count rocketed in the second set from four in the first to eight, with Isner out aceing his opponent 6-2, but it didn’t help him – the No21 seed lost the second set, like the first, 6-4.
While her opponent was receiving treatment to her left knee Azarenka seems to have spent the time regathering her focus, and after the restart she holds serve and takes a 15-40 lead on Schmiedlova’s serve. But the Slovakian recovers, wins four points on the spin, and ties the set at 2-2.
On Court 14, Errani’s day is going rapidly downhill: having been two breaks to the good she lost the first-set tie-break to Bertens (7-5), and has now been broken in the first game of the second.
Schmiedlova has recovered, after some physio attention, and doesn’t seem to be adversely affected by her fall.
On Simonne-Mathieu Victoria Azarenka is in trouble against Anna Karolína Schmiedlova, the Slovakian who has only got past the second round here once, and that was six years ago. Schmiedlova took the first set 6-2, but there’s been a twist: at 1-1 in the second Schmiedlova had a nasty fall, has badly grazed her left knee on the clay, and it is the same knee that required surgery and kept her out for much of the last 18 months.
On Suzanne Lenglen Stan Wawrinka seems to be making light work of Dominik Koepfer – he’s just taken the second set to lead 6-3, 6-2.
In the third round Svitolina will play the winner of the ongoing match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Astra Sharma. And even as I type that the match ends with the Russian No27 seed prevailing 6-3, 6-3. It looks like a very efficient performance, with Sharma not having so much as a break point.
Errani has failed to capitalise on her good start on court 14 – having already been broken once she just served for the first set against Bertens but was broken to love, so it’s gone to a tie break.
Here’s a report on Serena Williams’ withdrawal from this year’s French Open:
Related: Serena Williams forced out of French Open by Achilles heel injury
“I was just trying to get back into the match. I was making too many errors and she was quite solid from the baseline,” says Svitolina. “In the end a few balls here and there and the set was over. For me it was very important to stay focused, try to stay aggressive and try to come back.”
A fascinating match, one that revealed much about the strengths and weaknesses of both players, ends with victory for Svitolina over the unexpectedly troublesome Mexican qualifier Zarazua, who had a magnificent half an hour or so in the middle there.
Svitolina holds to 15, and the dream seems to be dying here for Zarazua. She’s 5-2 down in the decider, and it’s do (quite a lot) or die now.
They trade a couple of games, but then Zarazua is broken again. Svitolina leads 4-2 in the decider.
On Chatrier Zarazua has broken back, and is 1-2 down in a final set that is back on serve.
Serena has been explaining her decision to withdraw: “I’m struggling to walk, and that’s kind of a telltale sign that I should try and recover.”
“I really wanted to give an effort here. (I’m) struggling to walk so that’s a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover”
Get well soon, Serena!#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/PekxZ4tSzj
On court 7 Sebastian Korda, 20-year-old son of Petr and world No213, has taken the first set against the No21 seed, John Isner, 6-4. Korda is even taller than his dad, measuring 6ft 5in, but not quite as tall as the 6ft 10in Isner. Only four aces in that set, surprisingly.
And the pendulum swings once again. Svitolina breaks to love to take a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Svitolina wins the first game of the deciding set, and screams in celebration as she does so. As for Serena, presumably her decision is down to that achilles injury hanging over her from the US Open, but the full story will come out shortly.
Serena Williams has withdrawn from Roland Garros. No confirmation on the reason but she has said numerous times that the achilles injury she sustained in the US Open semi-final was still bothering her.
After her first round: “A ton of prayer. I’m doing so much for it.” pic.twitter.com/peNR86OBp3
Serena Williams is out of the French Open! No explanation as yet, but this has been confirmed by tournament organisers.
Zarazua seals the set, levels the match, 3-6, 6-0, and has the wind very much in her sails. What can Svitolina do about this?
On Court 14 Sara Errani, who was ranked No5 in 2013, and was a finalist here in 2012, but has slipped to No150 now, is turning back the clock and has roared into a 3-0 first-set lead against the No5 seed, Kiki Bertens, with two breaks.
Zarazua is killing Svitolina with drop shots now. The first one she played in this match was massively overhit, landed halfway down the court, and was pretty much an invitation for Svitolina to win the point, which she duly did. She has found her touch now, and is really punishing Svitolina with them. There’s a mammoth battle for Svitolina’s latest service game, which is eventually won by Zarazua after five break points. It’s 5-0 in the second!
An astonishing collapse from Svitolina, who hasn’t won a point in the last two games and is 3-0 down in the second set. She’s hit nine unforced errors in the first three games of this set, compared with only three in the entire first set (Zarazoa by contrast hit 18 in the first set, and has hit one so far in this).
Zarazoa breaks in the first game of the second set! This could get really interesting now, if the Mexican’s focus can last. Meanwhile play is getting under way on the outside courts, with several of the lower-ranked seeds in action including John Isner and Yulia Putintseva.
The Zarazua comeback was sadly shortlived. Svitolina holds to love and then breaks to 15 to seal the first set 6-3. There was a really good crosscourt return winner in there, absolutely smashed to the Mexican’s right, landing six inches from the line, and all in all an absolute nightmare to deal with.
Now she’s broken back! It’s as if a weight has been lifted since the threat of the dreaded double-bagel was seen off. There’s a fabulous down-the-line return winner on her way to the break, and suddenly Svitolina is involved in a game rather than a procession. It’s 2-4 in the first.
Zarazua is on the board! She holds to 15 and it’s 1-4 in the first set, Svitolina muttering angrily to herself as she heads to her seat.
The aim is for play to start half an hour late, so 10 minutes from now, AKA 10.30am BST, on the outside courts.
Svitolina isn’t hanging around against Zarazua, and has just broken for a second time to go 3-0 up in the first set. The Mexican is playing with a smile on her face, though, and has landed one rather excellent lob.
We have quite a tasty day ahead of us (weather permitting), scheduled to feature Serena, Rafa, Thiem, Halep, and the first Mexican woman to win a match at a Grand Slam for two decades (“I think I’m living a dream here,” said Renata Zarazua after her win; she plays Elina Svitolina first on Chatrier at which point the dream might start to fade a bit).
Here’s today’s order of play. There has been some persistent drizzle in Paris this morning, so the roof is on Chatrier and there will be delayed start on the outside courts, but the forecast is for a dry daytime (before rain overnight, and for much of the next few days). I haven’t held back, it’s all here. There are no boy’s or girl’s events, so they’re all men’s or women’s singles or doubles, though I’ll leave you to work out which is which. Just stop reading if you’ve read enough doubles schedules.
