French Open 2024: Sabalenka and Medvedev through; Djokovic and Zverev in action – live | French Open 2024
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And indeed Svitolina secures the doubles breakthrough; she was really aggressive today and as she has more control than Parry it means she is now only two games up at 6-4 4-2.
Two more quick service games, neither man was able to make an impression on the other’s serve and at 5-6 Goffen will now serve for the break; Svitolina leads Parry 6-4 3-1 and she too looks set for further holds.
There seems to be a leak in Lenglen’s roof – Zverev calls a blazer to look at him – and I guess he’ll be looked at now.
Goffen plays an excellent forehand to make it 0-15, but Zverev holds 5-4 and nine games into the match we have neither a break point nor a deuce. If we get to a break, you have to favor the German because of his serve, but his forehand is there to target.
Parry has a good problem now, broken in the first game of the second set to trail Svitolina 6-4 1-0. She has played some good things, so we have to give her credit for that, but against the best players, without consistency it is not enough. At 21, she has plenty of time to improve and has a pretty big game, but her one-handed backhand can be a problem under pressure.
Zverev’s hearing is set for tomorrow.
Gofen is an interesting test for Zverev, a player with great speed around the court who won’t be intimidated by power or do stupid things in panic. The German leads 4-3, but it’s tight.
There will be no further play on the outer courts before 14:15 BST, but I’ll be quite surprised if that time doesn’t move later and later.
Svitolina makes it 30-0, then chases a ball for a corner, Parry brings back a breath of fresh air. So, three set points, the first saved by chased drop. But the second is soon missed, an ace that breaks down the sideline, giving her a 6-4 lead.
Svitolina consolidated for 5-3 as Goffen made it 2-2 with his first ace of the match. He’s serving well, hitting every first serve bar, and if he wants to make an impression against Zverev, he’ll need to stay at that level.
It took a lot of time and effort, but Svito broke Parry now leading 5-3 in the first. It’s really something, how she’s come back after having a baby – she seems like a much better player now than before, which I absolutely did not expect.
“If the aforementioned players do become the Big Four of women’s tennis,” says Shreyas Esuran, “Where does that put players like Gauff or even Jabeur who could quite easily beat any of them on the right surface and on the right day? Will they be in Wawrinka’s category for a proper contender or in Cilic’s category for a few Grand Slam ‘good circumstances?’
First, you’re right: Gauff might fall into that category, and I had to check it out. I have to say I was a little surprised to see her win her first major when she did – I thought her poor forehand would stop her – but Brad Gilbert is doing a great job with her. Jabeur is more Jana Novotna and needs to win before we start thinking of her as anything other than a great and terribly likable player.
I imagine we will see more Chatrier and Lenglen matches than planned because this tournament needs to get moving. I dare say the organizers are delighted with how quickly things have progressed with the last one.
Well done Diane Parry! In the end, she secured the hold for 3-2, while on Lenglen, Zverev opened her match against Goffen with a 29 km/h ace.
We’re in the middle of a 10-minute game of Chatrier, Parry, struggling to hold on at 2-2 hsving, made a pair from 0-40 down. But I’m afraid we have to adjourn for oh, eff, eff: it’s raining again, we’re on the courts without a roof and I’m not sure we’ll be back today, given the forecast.
I am afraid to report that I have extinguished wor Hubie from my third screen to watch the outcome of Volinec 6-0 1-4 Vondrousova. That’s because I think Vondrousova is a potential champion and she was given all she could handle yesterday.
After losing the second set, Auger-Aliasime led Squire 4-2 in the third, while Shapovalov leveled his match against Tiafoe in a set.
Sebastian Korda (27) beat Kwon Soon-woo 6-4 6-4 1-6 6-3
Korda has a lot of talent and if he gets his focus right, he could start to push in the second week of the Slam.
Donna Vekic beat Marta Kostiuk (18) 7-5 6-4
Vekic has had injury problems so it’s great to see her win big matches again – she meets Collins or Danilovic next.
Matteo Arnaldi beat Alexander Muller 6-4 6-1 6-3
Keep an eye on the young Italian to see if he knows his way around the tennis court. He then meets Rublev and this match should be a lot of fun.
Grigor Dimitrov (10) defeated Fabian Marosan 6-0 6-3 6-4
He then meets either Marterer or Bergs, with the former leading 6-3 2-2, and plays well enough to be a factor here.
Next in Lenglen: Alexander Zverev (4) vs. David Goffen.
Rybakina says that against a lefty, she tries to cover the wide channels of the court, but also focuses on herself. She’s glad she didn’t go three sets, unlike in the first round, but she’s not so pleased with herself; however, she is past and it will take something decent to defeat her.
Elena Rybakina (4) beat Aranta Rus 6-3 6-4
It was a decent and even match, but you just can’t argue with Rybakina’s serve, especially on big points. She then faces either Mertens or Martic and either of them could give her a decent test.
Oh my God: it’s raining again, but for now we’re still playing.
Money immediately returns Svitolina, Rybakina does the same with Russ, and how often do we see this? Someone stays with a top player and asks a few questions, but once we get to the business end of the sets, the class says. the world number four will now serve for the match at 6-3 5-4.
Email! “Your red steak comment about Sabalenka prompted me to look it up vegan tennis players,,” writes Jonathan Ginsburg. “It may or may not be reliable, but it informs us of the Williams sisters (hello to Venus, sisterly empathy Serena), Martina (passionate PETA supporter), Novak (also gluten-free) and Kyrgios (ethical reasons more or less justified -a bit like the great Yiddish author Bashevis Singer I didn’t go vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens). If we are, as they say, results-oriented, veganism seems to work well for tennis, no steak needed.
We are gone again on Chatrier, Parry faces two break points in the opening game. She saves the first big cross-court forehand but sends another looping long and Svitolina leads 1-0.
We did not correctly cover last night’s match between Osaka and Svetek, but how good was that?! It’s so good to see Osaka playing like that again and enjoying her tennis; we’ll see how it goes from here, but it feels like when the hard court season starts, the rest of the tour is a foreshadowing. I wonder if women’s tennis might soon have its big four of Svetek, Osaka, Sabalenka and Rybakina; I’m sure we’ll all accept it.
The forecast still tells us that from 14:00 local time Paris will be in the drink. So let’s enjoy the feeling of needing seven or eight sets of eyes while we still can.
Oor Hubie – ok Hubez – just took the third set to lead Nakashima 6-7 6-1 6-3 and is looking pretty decent now as Rus leads Rybakina 3-2 in the second set, on serve, with Rybakina taking the first.
Looking around the courts, Dimitrov now has two sets and a break against Maroshan; Potapova beats Golubic 6-2 6-2 and follows Wang or Tomova, Wang wins a set and 5-3; Vekiv leads Kostyuk 7-5 2-3; Korda leads Kwon 6-4 6-4 1-6 3-2; and Shapovalov, though down a set, leads Tiafoe 3-1 in the second.
Next in Chatrier: Elina Svitolina (15) vs Diane Parry.
Sabalenka is really happy with her game – Mats notes she’s already on her touch shots – and she says her team probably doesn’t like it when she drops, so she’s glad he does. Given the record, she’ll probably be watching Netflix in her hotel room and also wants to go for a good steak – I’m not surprised she likes to devour red meat – and has a lot more confidence than last year. It will take something significant to defeat her.
While this was happening, Rybakina opened her shoulders and smashed Russ; now she serves for the first set and at 40-15 an errant forehand lands wide, giving the world number 6 a 6-3 lead. It’s a decent race, but every time Rybakina needs to find something, she does.
Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-2
And it looks absolutely great that way. She then meets either Putintseva or Badosa – the former currently leading 6-4 2-0 – and all the best to either. They will need it.
A string of wicked forehands gained advantage and Sabalenka has match point…
Russ collects another break point… and another serving pin confiscates him, additional exocats providing hold. Still, it’s a good contest, Rybakina leads 4-3. Elsewhere, Tiafoe won the first set in a breakthrough against Shapovalov; Hurkacz broke Nakashima for 3-2 in the third; Dimitrov now leads Maroshan 6-0 6-1; and Sabalenka does her best to finish off Uchijima here and now, making it two at 6-2 5-2.
Down 2-3 but up 15-0 and with Rybakina heading to the net, Russ hit a great forehand down the line and eventually secured the hold. Meanwhile, Sabalenka has to save four break points, one with a ninja forehand in the corner, and two more terrifying forehands secure a 6-2 5-2 lead.
I like the Arantxa Rus t-shirt (she’ll be relieved to learn when she checks the blog when the ending changes).
A glorious lob – we don’t see her pay off many of these – gives Sabalenka three break points, and another backhand cross return is too much for Uchijima again. The world number two leads 6-2 3-1 and the comms are wondering if she can win here. My feeling is that she can – her strength gives her a chance on every serve, especially as her touch has improved and she now knows she can handle the pressure of the finals. And of course we saw the problems Iga Svetek had last night with the weight of Naomi Osaka’s shot.
Arantxa Rus is from a place called Monster; I enjoy this. And as I write, she’s 0-30 on Rybakina’s serve, and even though it’s 30-all soon, a long forehand means a break point… and of course, a devastating serve down the T. From there, Rybakina closes and has that kind of power and height is just such an advantage.
Uchijima again starts the set well enough as we learn that she hasn’t lost a straight major match since the 2020 US Open. This could tell us that she is phenomenally consistent and very hard to beat – she is – or that she is struggling to cross the line – she has. She leads 6-2 1-1 and her serve looks impregnable.
