Key events
Oh man, up break point at 2-2, Alcaraz loses the ball – perhaps in the lights – as it drops short, forced to let it bounce rather than hammer down an overhead. It may also be he had too many options to decide what to do but eirher way, De Jong holds on.
Yeah, play on outside courts has now been bumped a further half-hour to 2pm BST earliest. I hate to say it, but i’d be surprised if we get a restart even close to then.
Yeah, Alcaraz breaks De Jong back to love. They’re 1-1 in set one.
On Chatrier, De Jong – conqueror of Jack Draper – holds … then breaks Alcaraz, hitting it as hard as he can and going for his shots, securing 2-0 with a big forehand followed by a drop … Alcaraz style.
Next on Lenglen: Camila Osorio v Ons Jabeur (8).
“La cerise sur la gateaux” says Tsitsipas of the atmosphere on Lenglen. “Did you get it?” It felt amazing, he said, “getting to play such marvellous tennis at the end – I really enjoyed it.”
He thinks it’s more fun playing another one-handed backhand, so it’s like “getting a taste of my own tennis … a type of ID.” He thinks it can be very effective on clay, “opening up the court, creating much more topspin – especially if you get good timing on it, I feel like it can do miracles.”
Finally,he says he was down on the score, he didn’t give up, and the times he’s come back before inspired him here.
Hold tight Daniel Altmaier, though, who found himself when 2-0 down and gave Tsitsipas loads. It’s still hard to see him winning her – or at any other major – because that backhand is a nonsense – but he’s playing well and looks confident.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (9) beats Daniel Altmaier 6-3 6-2 (2)6-7 6-4
That was a really enjoyable match that ended abruptly, Tsitsipas turning it up when he needed to to repel an inspired opponent. Next for him it’s Sonego or Zhang.
Wow! Up 15-30, Tsitsipas annihilates a forehand winner cross-court to raise two match points; did he need jeopardy to get himself going? Well he’s going, and another serve just the wrong side of the line, again checked by the umpire, gives him a look at a second delivery…
Vex on Lenglen as Altmaier is called for a fault when down break-back point; perhaps distracted, he then botches a forehand before remonstrating with the umpire at change of ends. So Tsitsipas breaks back for 4-4 in the fourth and might momentum have switched his way?
Ah this is nice, the first bit of Mac on my screen this tournament. He loves Alcaraz – he said last year that Boris is the best teenager he’s ever seen but this is the best 20-year-old he’s ever seen, and that he’d have loved to have similar joie de vivre when he played.
Next on Chatrier: Jesper De Jong v Carlos Alcaraz (3).
Kenin is “super-happy” and says she sorry she had to win, thanking the crowd for the atmosphere. She loves Chatrier, feeling like she has “some kind of connection” to it, she’s playing good tennis, the hard work is paying off, and she’s very happy. It’s special to be back after her injuries but if you put in the work the work pays off.
Now then! Altmaier hooks a forehand return on to the line for 0-30 … but two banging forehands from Tsitsipas halve the deficit. An ace out wide follows – I really enjoy the way he attacks pressure – but when his backhand is attacked next point, he yields, and Altmaier has an opportunity to break at 3-3 30-40! And have a look! Tsitsipas drops, Altmaier retrieves … and the backhand overhead drops into the net! The German dances a jig and after watching his opponent play beautifully for two sets, he’s now two holds away from forcing a decider! What a match this now is!
Sofia Kenin beats Caroline Garcia (21) 6-3 6-2
That’s a brilliant performance form Kenin. She served like god, returned almost as well, and Garcia looks disappointed but will know she’s been beaten by a fine player playing close to her best. Next for Kenin it’s Ostapenko or Tauson.
A love hold for Garcia, forcing Kenin to serve for the match…
Meantime, deep this from David Goffin courtesy of Reuters!
David Goffin accused partisan fans at the French Open of “total disrespect” and said he was spat at by a spectator during his marathon first-round victory over local favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
On a raucous Court 14, Goffin kept his cool to defeat wild card Perricard 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-7(4) 6-3, before the former world number seven held his hand to his ears as he left the venue to loud jeers.
“When you are insulted for 3-1/2 hours, you have to tease the public a little,” Goffin told Belgian media. “Clearly, it goes too far, it’s total disrespect.
“It’s really too much. It’s becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and fights in the stands. It’s starting to become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere.
“Someone spat out their chewing gum at me. It (the match) was getting complicated. That’s why I wanted to stay calm. If I started to get angry about it, it could have destabilised me.” Goffin then urged the organisers of the year’s second Grand Slam to take action.
“A lot of people are complaining, a lot of umpires feel that there is a lot of disrespect,” Goffin added. “This is repeated a lot in the locker room and among the ATP authorities. We’re going to have to do something about that.
“I think it only happens in France. At Wimbledon, obviously, there’s not that. Or in Australia either. At the U.S. Open, it’s still rather quiet. Here, it’s a really unhealthy atmosphere.”
Kenin is now at 8o% first serves and Garcia, the second-best server on tour this year according to the numbers, just can’t match her. She’ll now serve to stay in the match at 3-6 2-5.
Email! “What can you say about the weather?” wonders Olga. “Maybe it is still mourning for Nadal. Lovely job by you and others on Rafa’s last match. I am a diehard fan and wish he could play forever, but Father Time is undefeated. I wish Roger could have had his retirement wishes fulfilled. Speaking of Roger, there’s been a surprise choice for the next Laver Cup Captain: Yannick Noah will replace Borg next year and will be in Berlin.”
Who could fail to be inspired by that legend?
Monstrous hitting from both men when Tsitsipas earns a break point, Altmaier outlasting him and accepting the forehand error. The Greek consoles himself by bellowing “Shut up!”, presumably at his box; I wonder if his brother is re-evaluating his opinion. Anyroad, Altmaier quickly tidies up the game while, on Chatrier, a forehand winner gives Kenin anothrr break and at 6-3 4-2, she can smell the finish line.
And she does, breaking back to 30! This match is hitting a rolling boil now! Meantime, Tsitsipas leads Altmaier 2-1 2-1.
A double then an unforced forehand error mean Kenin has a third break point … and this time she takes it, a similar return to the one that went close last time, hooked line on the forehand, this time is good. She leads 6-3 3-1 and Garcia needs to find a solution and fast.
Garcia finds herself break-point down at 3-6 1-2 and she just can’t get any momentum; Kenin won’t let her get any momentum. She saves it, but a lovely flick down the line from the American, running in, means she’s to defend another … and a nice forehand return lands fractionally wide.
What a set (of tennis) from Daniel Altmaier! He went for a break after the second, changing his clothes, and returned like Superman! Tsitsipas had to fully extend to make the breaker, but what difference did that make? None! The German takes it 7-2 and if he keeps this up we’re in for something very special.
Of course, as soon as I hit send, Tsitsipas goes wide on the forehand to cede the mini-break at 0-2; Altmaier sustains it with a tremendous drop-riposte, then annihilates a backhand down the line for 4-1. And have a look! A glorious return on to the tootsies it too good, and this breaker is due reward for the excellence of Altmaier’s play this set. he’s opened shoulders and everything he hits is going where he wants it to.
Tsitsipas does indeed hold, and though Altmaier is hitting it well enough to take the odd point you need to win a breaker, it’s hard to look past the excellence of the Greek’s serve-forehand combo.
On Tsitsipas – now serving for a breaker at 5-6 in third third – I receive an anecdote in which someone asked Petros, his brother, the most annoying thing about him. “Nothing,” came back the reply. “He doesn’t annoy me. I love him so deeply.”
I’m not sure there’s anyone in the world who isn’t annoying, so that’s a remarkable testimony.
Kenin raises two set points, Garcia saving the first with an ace. but a second serve is clobbered back and though the home favourite makes her play another shot, and booming forehand down the line secures a 6-3 set!
Garcia plays two lovely points to get the crowd going, but a poor return on deuce cedes advantage and Kenin, who’s playing the pressure points well, holds on for 5-3; Tsitsipas is now serving at 6-3 6-2 4-5.
Absolute sake latest: our time without play on outside courts has been extended by an hour to 1.30pm BST.
Altmaier is in the zone here, Tsitsipas fully extending to avoid dropping serve. But so far, he’s repelling the assault, holding for 4-4 in the third, while Kenin is delivering beautifully, up 4-3 30-0 and forcing Garcia through deuce to avoid the double-break.
Kenin consolidates to love for 4-2 and is starting to assert herself from the back.
Altmaier’s enjoying himself now, forcing another break point with ferocious hitting and a no-look drop-retrieval … for all the good it does him, Tsitsipas saving it and holding for 6-3 6-2 2-2. Meantime, Garcia is struggling to hold in a 10-minute game, missing various volleys then, with the court open, hammering an overhead that Kenin shouldn’t have smelt but somehow sends back. And it affects Garcia too; she loses the rally with an error, then cedes the game with another, so Kenin will now serve at 3-2 in the first.
Garcia makes break point, but Kenin responds with a serve out wide that’s too good; another first serve gives her advantage and then a forehand winner cross-court secures the hold for 2-2. Meantime, Altmaier is now going for his shots, earning a break point … quickly extinguished with a big serve … and though he hangs in there, Tsitsipas’ forehand is just too much, eventually polishing off the game. He leads 6-3 6-2 1-1.
Garcia leads Kenin 2-1 on serve, the players still settling. Kenin leads the head-to-head 2-0, but she’s had a poor season so might not respond well to pressure.
A benefit of the rain: Calv Betton is off court so can report on Ben Shelton. “His raw materials are great but his backhand is proper rubbish,” he says. “But I don’t think he wins a slam. There’s some mad stat that if you make him play a BH on the first shot of the rally he only wins 15% or something like that. He’s a top-15 player coz his serve and forehand are huge but I don’t think he goes higher by much. He’s defending a load of points and he doesn’t beat the top players.”
This is a very fine performance from Tsitsipas, who clinches the second set to lead 6-3 6-2. I’m still not sure his backhand is good enough to hold up when targeted by the best, but this is the best I’ve seen him play in ages.
Kenin and Garcia have started on Chatrier, and i wonder if this match will be defined by the latter’s serve or the former’s return.
Strong tracksuit game from the young man.
Altmaier is on the board in set two, trailing Tsitsipas 6-3 5-1, and we’ve just been advised that there’ll be no play on outside courts before 12.30pm BST.
And here they come. This should be a terrific contest, with a proper atmosphere.
We will, at least, soon have a second match to go with Altmaier 3-6 0-4 Tsitsipas, because Kenin, the 2o20 Aussie Open champ and French Open runner-up, is due on Chatrier to take on Caroline Garcia, the home favourite and number 21 seed.
So I guess now is a good time to round up scores around the courts: Nakashima leads Hurkacz 6-5 on serve; Arnaldi leads Muller 5-3; Fernandez leads Wang 5-3; Zhang leads Sonego 4-3 with a break; and Korda leads kwon 5-4 with a break.
Tsitsipas is enjoying himself now, spiriting a lush forehand down the line from way out of court, and he breaks again to lead 6-3 3-0. Elsewhere, Vondrousova has broken again too – Volynets is maybe the only person in the grounds pleased it’s expletive raining again, the score 6-0 1-4. On 7, it’s Shelton 5-5 Nishikori, but of course they’ve gone off.
Vondrousova has woken up, breaking and consolidating for 0-6 3-0. You get the feeling that Volynets needs to get this done in two, but women’s tennis remains the least predictable sport in the world, so.
I really like how Tsitsipas is playing here – the weight of shot is immense – and when he makes 15-40 at 6-3 0-0, Altmaier spanks an ace out wide before netting. Or, in other words, if his serve doesn’t go a long way towards securing the point, he’s got a problem.
We’re still on serve on Court 7, Shelton and Nishikori locked at 4-4. It’s Shelton looking the likelier, but if the set – and the match – come down to a point here and there, the wily veteran will fancy himself.
Vondrousova is on the board, holding in the first game of set two, while Tsitsipas takes the first set of Altmaier 6-3.
So Volynets has only gone and bagelled Vondrousova in set one, and in fairness she’s been steadily improving the last couple of years. She made round two of this competition in 2022, then round three in Melbourne a year later, and at 22 is settling into her style. She’s doing really well to hang in long rallies – Vondrousova isn’t known for her power – and she’s going for winners whenever she can.
Elsewhere, Sonego leads Zhang 2-1, Korda and Lwon are 2-2. and Shelton, who’s hitting winners, leads Nishikori 3-2 on serve.
Gosh, Volynets is now 4-0 up on Vondrousova. I’m not certain how as there’s no commentary and I’ve mainly had eyes elsewhere, but I’ve just seen Volynets find a lovely angle at the end of a long rally – the kind of angle i’d expect her opponent to create.
Tsitsipas is hitting it hard on Lenglen, but it’s a drop that looks to have given him 0-30. But Altmaier does superbly to run around a lob that wasn’t quite clean enough, slamming a forehand winner cross, with his opponent stranded at the net. Tsitsipas, though, sticks at it, his returning right there, and when he raises two break points, a backhand into the tape means he only needs one. Altmaier 1-3 Tsitsipas.
Can Ben Shelton contend seriously for majors? We’ll need our resident coach calv Betton to rule on that one and one of his lads, Luke Johnson, is playing in the men’s doubles currently so we’ll need to wait on him. But I really like what I see, physically, technically and mentally – he believes. He leads Nishikori 1-0 on serve, while Volynets has broken Vondrousova – who I think is a serious threat here – in game one.
I’m also watching Ben Shelton (15) v Kei Nishikori and Katie Volynets v Marketa Vondrousova (5) – for now.
We’re tossing up on Lenglen and this should be a decent match – Altmaier beat Jannik Sinner in last year’s competition and at 25 is round about his peak, while Tsitsipas is improving with every match on clay.
Preamble
Salut tout le monde et bienvenue à Roland-Garros jour quatre!
And it’s another absolute rippeur. The highlight of our day should be Iga Swiatek v Naomi Osaka, but we’ve to wait for that one; no matter. Because between now and then, we have Daniel Almaier taking on the resurgent Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sofia Kenin meeting Caroline Garcia, Denis Shapovalov v Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton v Kei Nishikori.
Nor is that all – or anything close to it. We’ve also got Carlos Alcarax, Ons Jabeur v Camila Osorio, Andrey Rublev, Coco Gauff v Tamara Zidansek, Jelena Ostapenko, Marketa Vondrousuva, Felix Auger-Aliassime and yet more. On y va!
Play: 11am local, 10am BST
