Serena Williams continues to believe in it
Searching for four years for a 24e Grand Slam which would make her equal Margaret Court’s record, Serena Williams can still hope for a fourth Porte d’Auteuil coronation. She beat her fellow American Danielle Collins, a quarter-finalist of the previous edition and a solid clay court player, on Friday.
After a first round won without incident, the current 7e of the competition made the task more difficult in the second set, sometimes losing her composure and letting Collins regain her game. Led 4-1, she finally regained the ascendancy in the exchanges to chain five games and win 6 -4.
We don’t stop Medvedev anymore
While he had never yet passed the first round of Roland Garros in four appearances, Russian Daniil Medvedev seems to be making his mark on Parisian clay this year. On Friday he disposed of the American Reilly Opelka, powerful in service but often out of speed. The finalist of the last Australian Open dictated the pace of the rally from the baseline, forcing his opponent to run behind the ball and behind the score throughout the three sets.
Medvedev, who declared after his victory in the first round to have “A lot of hope for this tournament”, benefits from a rather clear picture, since he will not be able to face Nadal, Djokovic or Federer before the final. At first, he will have to defeat in the round of 16 the Chilean Cristian Garin, scorer in the afternoon of Marcos Giron.
Casper Ruud falls in five sets
Prospects Casper Ruud (22) and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (21) have fought a bitter battle. The Norwegian, very fit this season, especially on clay, may not have expected such a fight. The Spaniard won two tie-breaks, while Ruud responded twice with a clear win in both sets.
It was finally Davidovich Fokina who emerged victorious from this high level meeting, punctuated by superb exchanges, Ruud ending up giving in with the fourth break point conceded at 5-5 in the last set. In the round of 16, he will face the Greek Federico Delbonis, striker in three sets and two short hours of a springless and almost casual Fabio Fognini.
Aryna Sabalenka gets caught
The third round of Roland Garros has already dropped some seeds in the women’s table. In the female table, Aryna Sabalenka, seeded no 3, was surprised by the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. After a big dip in the first set, the Belarusian had nevertheless reacted well with 19 winning strokes, which allowed her to win the second round.
The case seemed well underway for her, Pavlyuchenkova calling on the trainer for a long time before the start of the last set. This finally crushed Sabalenka (6-0), clumsy and who ended up losing the thread mentally. Pavlyuchenkova therefore finds the round of 16 of the competition, which she had not reached since 2011.
She will find Victoria Azarenka there (seed no 15), who easily disposed of the American Madison Keys (seed no 23). The Belarusian took advantage of her opponent’s 33 unforced errors to conclude the match in 1 h 10, without trembling.
A formality for Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev did not have much trouble getting rid of Laslo Djere, who was beaten in three sets. The Serb admittedly got and wasted three set points on his serve in the second set, but the no World 6 has been effective and has rolled out to win the last four games.
The last set then almost seemed like a formality for the German player, serene about his face-offs and winner 6-2 of this last act. Zverev therefore reached the round of 16 for the fourth year in a row. There he will find Kei Nishikori, winner by retirement of the Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen.