Key events
Fucsovics and Tsitsipas are knocking up on Lenglen.
Next on Chatrier: Iga Swiatek (1) v Leolia Jeanjean (Q).
Jabeur notes that conditions were slow but she’s taking it match by match and hopes that the people will be with her until the final. Otherwise, a question from Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament organiser: how does she get the crowd to love her? She’s always thinking about smiling, she says, trying to bring joy on and off the court, and she hopes her good relationship with the public continues.
Ons Jabeur (8) beats Sachia Vickery 6-3 6-2
That wasn’t straightforward but Jabeur, who’s been in miserable form, will be much happier for it and meets Kalinina or Osorio next.
Jabeur nails Vickery with yet another drop from and at 6-2 5-2 0-15, she has match point.
Back on Chatrier, Vickery has forced Jabeur to serve for the match at 6-3 5-2.
Next on Lenglen: Márton Fucsovics v Stefanos Tsitsipas (9).
Sinner is just happy to be back playing and his hip is good now. He and his team have worked really hard and though he’s not yet at 100%, they try to get better every day and he’s very happy to have the roof closed for the first time. Otherwise, he’s happy with what he’s achieved in the last few months but his goal is to improve every day, he knows he has things to improve, and his team push him to improve every day.
Jannik Sinner (3) beats Christopher Eubanks 6-3 6-3 6-4
That’s a great win for the Aussie Open champ, who’ll be fitter and feel fitter for that first match back after injury. His ability to find big first serves when he most needs them and play the big points really well evidences a young man at one with himself and his game;
bonne chance Richard Gasquet, who has to play him next.
An overhead gives Sinner 15-0 but Eubanks then hooks a superb forehand winner cross-court and makes 15-30 immediately afterwards … then a double follows! Whoever you are, finishing off a match is a nervy, but again, Sinner’s first serve gets him out of trouble and this is something that distinguishes the best from the excellent: timing. And, shonuff, the Italian relaxes into the next point, whamming forehands to make deuce; I’m certain he’ll finish it from here.
Rain latest: no play before 1pm BST. But it is much brighter now.
It’s a bit brighter now, and I think the rain might’ve stopped … but not in Sachia Vickery’s heart. She’s been broken a second time in set two and, though she’s given Jabeur plenty, resounding defeat looks to be in her immediate future … and, as I type, she’s nailed with an expert’s drop which sticks in the clay and dies. And, though she makes her opponent fight through deuce, she eventually holds for 6-3 4-0 while, on Lenglen, Eubank is match-point down … but punishes a colossal forehand winner to make deuce before closing out. He’s made Sinner serve for it.
Eubanks is running out of road here, able to make an impression on the Sinner serve without actually taking it. Down 3-6 3-6 3-4, he gets to 30-all, then a pair of overheads, followed by a big serve and a further overhead, mean the number three seed is just a game away from round two
It’s pretty grim in Paris today and we’ve just received word that play won’t resume on uncovered courts before 12.30 BST, problem being it’s still raining à ce moment.
Jabeur is playing nicely now, breaking the game Vickery for 6-3 1-0 and consolidating in short order. She’s nearly in round two and, given how ropey her form has been lately, will be feeling pretty decent.
Sinner has that champion’s aura now, able to quickly disappear matches without over-extending, and he breaks early in set three to lead 6-3 6-3 3-1. If his hip is in nick, he’s a serious threat to win here.
On Chatrier, Jabeur is serving for the set at 5-3, and when she sends Vickery wide, the cross-court response drops beyond the sideline. So that’s the first set, and Ons will be better for what turned out to be a stiffer test than we might’ve anticipated.
Sinner has played the big points really well and that’s the confidence – and relaxation – you get from winning your first major. I’m sure he’s plans for many more, but he has one and no one can ever take that away from him; no one can ever bother him for not having managed it.
We’re down to two matches now, Jabeur 5-2 Vickery and Eubanks 3-6 3-6 1-1 Sinner; the opanisers must be delighted they stuck a roof on Lenglen for the Olympics.
At 6-3 6-3 0-1, Sinner finds himself with two more break points to save, the first confiscated via serve and the second thanks to a deft drop. Again, though, Eubanks earns another, he gets right into the point thanks to a nails backhand … then nets. He’s playing better now, he just needs to hit more consistently, but in the meantime Sinner closes out to lead 2-0 1-1.
Ah well; that’s the last we’ll see of this match for a while – it’s starting to rain so play has been suspended.
Jabeur breaks Vickery for 4-2 and Shelton breaks Gaston back for 3-6 6-3 3-3; a total showman, he’s absolutely loving taking on a local favourite, and I’d not be surprised if this match goes long.
Liudmila Samsonova (17) beats Magda Linette 6-1 6-1
She meets Anisimova next.
We’ve a match brewing on Court 14 where Shelton has levelled his match with Gaston at one apiece, but Gaston has broken for 3-2 in set three.
They’re closing the roof on Lenglen, so rain must be on the agenda.
Down 3-6 3-5, Eubanks makes 15-30 as Sinner serves for the set, and a netted forehand raises two break-back points. If he’s to make a match of this, you feel one of them, as Wayne Mar-Dell likes to say, has to go … and of course two aces make that impossible. No matter, Eubanks earns another … and again, it vanishes when a murderous serve is too good. From there, Sinner closes out to lead 6-3 6-3 while, on Chatrier, Vickery is starting to enjoy herself, breaking Jabeur back to trail 2-3.
This is just so zany.
Marketa Vondrousova (5) beats Rebeka Masarova 6-1 6-3
Extremely impressive from the Wimbledon champ on her favourite surface, and she meets the aptly-named American, Volynets, next.
Nishioka is giving Auger-Aliassime a bit more second set – they’re now at 6-2 3-3 – Jabeur has broken Vickery and now leads 3-0; Sinner is up on Euanks 6-3 5-2; and Vondrousova will shurely shoon finish off Masharova, in front by 6-1 5-3.
On Chatrier, Jabeur v Vickery is away, and you fear for oor Ons. Not today, but she might just’ve missed her chance at snaffling that elusive major, successive Wimbledon final defeats hitting her hard – while various younger players got better. Women’s tennis being women’s tennis, you can never be sure, but I’m not sure she’s as good now as she was then, and for her to get back to that level, at 29, is a lot to ask.
Sinner, up 6-3 3-1, looks up at his box and, having missed a few forehands, in comms they speculate that maybe his hip’s playing up. Back on court, though, it’s as if he heard, a sensational forehand winner, hit cross on the run, suggesting to the contrary. He holds for 4-1.
Potapova is nearly into round two, 6-4 4-1 up on Rakhimova, Samsonova leads Linette 6-1 2-1 and Paolini leads Saville 6-3 2-1.
Mea time, Sinner plays a wondrous forehand to secure a break and a 6-3 2-0 lead – this looks like a quick morning’s work – and Vondrousova does indeed serve out for 6-1 3-1. What we’re seeing with her, I think, is a player now totally comfortable with and confident in her game, the pressure of having to win a biggun now removed forever; compare that with how Ons Jabeur, whom she beat in the final, will be feeling – on which point, she’ll be in Chatrier any second.
I hoped Masarova would give Vondrousova more to think about second set, but thus far, no so: the Wimbledon champ leads 6-1 2-1 with a break … but trails 0-30. If she fights back to take the game, the match will surely soon follow.
I’m not sure if this is deliberate, but Sinner’s hair is the same colour as Sinner’s t-shirt, is the same colour as the clay, If he could just do likewise with his shorts, hat, sweatbands and footwear, he’d be almost unreadable because he’d be almost invisible. But does he even need it though? At deuce, he flicks a ludicrous forehand winner cross-court that breaks the sideline – what an angle! – which takes him to set point, a Eubanks double follows, and the Aussie Open champ leads 6-3.
Elsewhere, Auger-Aliassime leads Nishioka 6-2, Gaston leads Shelton 6-3, Samsonova leads Linette 5-1 and Potapova leads Rakhimova 6-2 0-1.
Eubanks is getting comfier, a booming return on to the tootsies earning him 40-30; a big second serve down the T and it’s for nothing, Sinner leading 5-3.
She has to save break point to do it, but Vondrousova eventually holds for a 6-1 set. The second might be tighter, though, because Masarova looks to have settled now.
A double from Sinner hands back a break at 2-4, but a backhand winner down the line gives him 15-30 and we wind up at deuce, Eubanks thrashing a forehand wide when up advantage. Then, at the net, Sinner dumps a putaway, and at 3-4 this set has suddenly got closer.
Elsewhere, Gaston leads Shelton 4-2; Auger-Aliassime leads Nishioka 3-1; Samsonova leads Linette 3-0; and Paolini leads Saville 3-2.
Vondrousova is in terrific shape, 4-0 up now, and looking at the bracket, her run to the last eight is extremely reasonable … whereupon she’s seeded to meet Swiatek. I doubt she’ll mind – whoever wins here will probably have to go through the defending champ and what difference when? – with Gauff seeded to reach the semi from the top half and Sabalenka the likeliest to emerge from the top. And in the time it takes me type that, the Wimbledon champ consolidates again for 5-0, while Sinner breaks Eubanks again for 4-1.
Talking of last year’s Wimbledon, Chris Eubanks was a hero of the men’s competition, beating Norrie and Tistsipas en route fo a five-set, last-eight defeat to Medvedev. He looked a potential star then, his ability to play exciting tennis matched by the thoughtful and entertaining way in which he talks about the game, but it’s been tough since then – and a first-round match against the most recent major winner is not really what he needed on his least-favourite surface. And he’s been broken already, Sinner 2-1 in front and playing with all the confidence you’d expect.
It’s taken her a while, but at 24, Marketa Vondrousova is now firmly established among the elite of women’s tennis. She made the final at Roland-Garros in 2019, but over the last decade or so, a panoply of others have done similarly; Laylah Fernandez in New York, say, or Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon. But by winning in SW19 last term, Vondrousova illustrated an ability to perform on the biggest stage, and her unusual combination of angles and spins makes her a one-off – especially on clay, her favourite surface. She’s a serious threat here, and leads Masarova 2-0.
I’m also watching Masarova v Vondrousova (5) and Nishioka v Auger-Aliassime (21).
On Lenglen, Sinner and Ebanks are knocking up, the freshly-minted Aussie Open champ with his hip injury all healed.
Ever lost your front-door key on your morning trundle around the park? Yeah, that
Preamble
Bonjour tout le monde! And welcome to Roland-Garros 2024 – day two!
Et zut alors, quelle journée c’est! De tout façon that’s about as much Tricolore as I’ve got left these days, so let’s segue into English to ponder what is an absolutely ridiculous menu of French Open TennisTM.
The most obvious highlight of our day is Alexander Zverev’s match with Rafael Nadal, potentially the 14-time champ’s last in Paris, but as well as that we’ve got … deep breath …: Ons Jabeur, Iga Swiatek, Chris Eubanks v Jannik Sinner, Marton Fucsovics v Stefanos Tsitsipas, Elina Svitolina v Karolina Pliskova, Coco Gauff, Daniil Medvedev, Cameron Norrie, Marketa Vondrousova, Maria Sakkari, Ben Shelton, Karen Khachanov – and so much more.
Chauette et on y va!