Two results from the women’s draw to update you on:
Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko are both through to the second round after straight-set wins over Viktoriya Tomova and Lucia Bronzetti, respectively.
Medvedev romps to the second set against Bagnis. 6-2, 6-2!
The Russian closes it out with an ace down the T, in a game that also included the deftest of drop shots and a chat with the umpire (in French, Medvedev is fluent, owing to him living full-time in the south of France).
Pliskova has recovered in the second set against Andrianjafitrimo. The No 8 seed is 4-1 up as she attempts to level the match by taking the second set.
Something you may have missed from yesterday was a shock loss for Stan Wawrinka to local wildcard Corentin Moutet, which was notable as a five-set epic but also because of comments Wawrinka made to the umpire about the temperature of the water at Roland Garros.
It is not normal at a grand slam,” said the 2015 French Open champion. “Is that normal? Do you think it is normal? So you call someone. It has been three changeovers, I asked you for some water that is not fucking freezing! Because it is not good. You are at the French Open and you cannot get normal water! You think it is normal?”
If this sounds like a bizarre complaint, it is actually something that tennis players care quite a lot about. This is from Novak Djokovic’s book, Serve to Win. The Serbian drinks only warm water on court, apparently.
“When you drink ice water, the body needs to send additional blood to the digestive system in order to heat the water to 98.6 degrees. There’s some benefit to this process – heating the cold water burns a few additional calories. But it also slows digestion and diverts blood away from where I want it – in my muscles.”
Hang on, Bagnis sends a forehand down the line and he has won a game! 4-1 down in the second set, the comeback is on!
Bagnis is not moving well at all. This is turning into something of a procession for Medvedev, who has won the last eight games. He’s 6-2, 4-0 up. Bagnis is limping, but appears determined to pick up his prize money! The Argentinian can barely get off the ground when serving.
Denis Shapovalov is down both a set and a break against the unseeded Holger Rune, who has converted three of his four break points to lead 6-3, 3-0!
Andrianjafitrimo closes out the set against Pliskova 6-2!
What a start from Andrianjafitrimo, who is only here after receiving a lucky loser place after losing a Morocco Open final to compatriot Kristina Mladenovic last week. Pliskova has it all to do.
Medvedev beat Bagnis to the first set 6-2
Well, that was quick. A combination of Medvedev stepping up his game, and Bagnis struggling with that calf injury sees the Russian run away with the first set. Eurosport commentators are speculating that Bagnis is unfit to continue but hanging on a little to collect the first-round prize money. Not sure if I agree with that, although the Argentinian is certainly not 100%. If he retired early from this first-round match, he would only collect half of the €62,000 prize money, which equates to about a quarter of his earnings this year.
Pliskova is continuing to have a bit of a howler against Andrianjafitrimo. She’s 5-1 down, and struggling against the French player. We have an upset on our hands here.
Australian Open 2022 finalist Danielle Collins has roared through her first set with Viktoriya Tomova. Six-love, a morning donut for the Bulgarian.
Excited to see Simona Halep later. The 2018 French Open champion is on court at 2.35pm BST against Nastasja Schunk as she makes her way back from a calf injury, with the 30-year-old also taking some time out to get married. She’s ranked 19 here, but most certainly a top-10 player on her day. However, there are some hurdles to overcome for the Romanian.
“I had the biggest injury of my career, and I didn’t know how to manage it at the start,” she told CNN in a revealing pre-tournament interview. “I was scared and had low confidence because I felt my body didn’t hold anymore. I really suffered and I didn’t see any light outside of the tunnel.”
After a couple of breaks from both Medvedev and Bagnis, we’re on serve on Suzanne Lenglen. Bagnis has looked lively and bring the Russian to the net with a sumptuous drop shot. Medvedev is one of the best movers on tour, but can only bunt it back over the net for an easy Bagnis finish. Lovely stuff.
Preamble
Welcome to the third day of the French Open at Roland Garros! The second seed in the men’s draw, and soon-to-be Wimbledon absentee, Daniil Medvedev, is first up on Suzanne Lenglen, against Facundo Bagnis. Ranked just outside the top 100, Bagnis has a heavily strapped right calf – this should be fairly straightforward for the Russian. But we’ve already seen some upsets this year in Paris. Medvedev receives a warm welcome from the French crowd. He reached the quarter-finals last year after four previous first-round exits.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw, Denis Shapovalov gets going against Holger Rune, while home favourite Ugo Humbert is underway against Emil Ruusuvuori.
Interestingly, on Court Simonne-Mathieu, No 8 seed Karolina Pliskova is currently 2-0 down in the opening set to Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, while Danielle Collins and lead Jeļena Ostapenko have early leads in their first-round matches against Viktoriya Tomova and Lucia Bronzetti respectively.
If you want to catch up on yesterday’s goings on, have a little gander below:
Let’s get into i
Let’s get into it!
