Key events
Elise Mertens [28] beats Camila Osorio 6-3 7-6(3)!
Mertens meets Pegula next, and that match should be a jazzer.
Coming up next on Chatrier: Garcia [5] v Blinkova. They’re knocking up.
Tsitsipas wants done: he’s now a double break up in set three, leading 3-0, and this match is O-V-E-R. Meanwhile, Mertens has retrieved Osorio’s second-set break, so they’re about to play a breaker.
Ofner is in a great spot; he takes his second-set breaker against Korda 7-1 and now leads 2-0. Korda got to the last eight in Melbourne, beating Medvedev and Hurkacsz in the process, so this would be a big win for the Swiss in the Sebastian derby.
Elina Svitolina beats Storm Hunter 2-6 6-3 6-1!
That’s a brilliant win from Svito, whose comeback from injury and maternity gathers pace. She served really well in the back-end of that match and meets Garcia or Blinkova next.
Peyton Stearns beats Jelena Ostapenko [17] 6-3 1-6 6-2
Just another normal day of Ostapenkz. Stearns meets Vondrousova or Kasatkina next.
A forehand down the line drops just long, and Tsitsipas, who dictated the point up till then, takes the breaker to four for a 2-0 lead. Ultimately, he knows, Carballes Baena knows and we know that when it comes to it, he can find what he needs to win matches like this one.
I’ve left my Ostapenkz because, let’s be real, that match is over, snivel. Instead, I’m on Ofner 6-3 6-5 Korda, which is to say the unseeded Swiss has retrieved the number 24’s break.
Carballes Baena holds to force a breaker, and is immediately sent nashing to hither and yon as Tsitsipas snatches an immediate mini-break at 2-0. Meanwhile, Stearns has a second final-set break against Ostapenko, leading 4-1, and Svitolina looks set to following her husband’s miraculous victory last evening with one of her own; she leads Hunter 4-0 in the decider.
Is it just me who’s noticed how much Jessica Pegula looks like Jessica Penne, the MMA fighter?
Jessica Pegula [3] beats Camila Giorgi 6-2 retired
Ach, that’s a shame – I hope Giorgi is OK for the grass-court season. Pegula meets Osorio or Mertens next.
In classic Ostapenkz style, after taking a set 6-1 she’s broken at the start of the decider, so Stearns leads 6-3 1-6 0-1 … oh, and as I type it becomes 0-2; Svitolina, meanwhile, has levelled a match in which she trailed by a set and break, and how good is that to see? She and Hunter are just about to start their decider, while Mertens, seeded 28, is a set up but a break down to Osorio at 2-3 in the second.
Four straight breaks on Lenglen so it’s 4-3 Tsitsipas in the second while, in good news for my daily acca failure, Korda is a break up at 3-2 in set two, having lost the first to Ofner.
Pegula is pasting Giorgi here, leading 4-0 in the first, while Fognini is battering Kubler, 6-4 4-0.
After much deliberation I’ve decided to go Ostapenko 3-6 6-1 Stearns on my third screen – principally because I love the former, whose attacking abandon and carefree yahooing is a lesson for life.
Ball dropping out the sun and close to the baseline, Tsitsipas lets it bounce then clobbers a smash that gives Carballes Baena no chance. But then he leaves a ball he’s sure is out, it isn’t, and that’s two break-back points; a double follows, and we’re back on serve in set two, Tsitsipas leading 6-3 3-2.
Tsitsipas is wearing down Carballes Baena, breaking him for 3-1 in set two after gradually upping the backhand power.
On Chatrier, Pegula – and who saw her rising to number three seed? – has broken Giorgi in the first game.
Oh and one more: regular readers will know that Calvin Betton, our resident coach, supplies us with expert, insider analysis. Well, his charge, Henry Patten, is playing men’s doubles with Julian Cash, and they lead Purcell and Shelton 6-3 2-1 with a break.
OK, so far this morning: Tsitsipas leads Carballes Baena 6-1 1-1; Hunter leads Svitolina 6-2 2-1 with a break; Stearns leads Ostapenko 6-3 1-2, Ostapenko with a break; Mertens leads Osorio 6-3; Fognini leads Kubler 6-4; and Offner leads Korda 6-3 2-1.
Preamble
Morning all and welcome to Roland-Garros 2023, day four! Anyone got a spare set of eyes? Because today sees the start of our second round, and of course it blesses us with an array of matches that is both ordinary and extraordinary.
We begin with Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on clay-court specialist Roberto Carballés Baena, while Jessica Pegula takes on Camila Giorgi. Then, in the second tranche of matches, Stan Wawrinka, the former champ and oldest man in the draw, faces Thanasi Kokkinakis, conqueror of Dan Evans, while Daria Kastkina meets Marketa Vondrousova and Caroline Garcia is also in action.
Goodness me, then by mid-afternoon we should be watching Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka and Andrey Rublev, before rounding out the day with Lucas Pouille – a local favourite who qualified after struggling with alcohol addiction and mental health – against Cameron Norrie.
And that’s just the show courts! Elsewhere, we’ve got Jelena Ostapenko, Elise Mertens, Hubert Hurkacz, Sloane Stephens, Lorenzo Musetti, Laylah Fernandez, Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, Roberto Bautista Agut and Sebaskian Korda; frankly it’s ridiculous. Chouette! On y va!
