Key events
Medvedev isn’t enjoying himself at all, just about securing a hold for 2-6 2-1, an ace perhaps getting him going. And he quickly makes 0-40 when Walton serves next, but terrific hitting from the Aussie, who expertly moves him about the court, brings us to deuce.
I’ve not seen Komae play before, but a 17-year-old home wildcard, making his grand slam debut, has my attention. He’s giving Cilic plenty, down 3-4 on serve, and I’m excited to see what he does from here.
Five games in a row for Walton, who takes the first set off Medvedev 6-2 in just half an hour. I wonder if the no 6 seed is following a kind of José Mourinho arc, where he over-indexes on the confrontational stuff that helped make him brilliant to the exclusion of the other stuff that was equally important, losing the run of himself in the process.
Elsewhere, Alexei Popyrin leads Zachary Svajda 6-3; Donna Vekic is up 5-2 on Alice Tubello; Tallon Griekspoor and Matteo Arnaldi are level at 3-3; with Marin Cilic and Moise Kouame also level, at 2-2. Or, put another way, or better matchups come later in the day.
Though Medvedev has improved through the clay-court swing – Jannik Sinner needed three to get by him in the Italian Open semis – he’s made a rough start here, trailing Walton 4-2. That’s my main match for now.
Preamble
Salut tout le monde et bienvenue à Roland-Garros 2026 – troisième jour!
And, of course, what a troisième jour this promises to be. Standing out among stand-outs, we’ve Linda Noskova, seeded 12, facing Maria Sakkari; Cameron Norrie meets Daniel Vallejo; and Naomi Osaka takes on Laura Siegemund.
But the match of the day might just come first up on Chatrier, where Aryna Sabalenka, yet to win this pot, meets the excellent Jessica Bouzas Maneiro; don’t be surprised if that matures into an epic (but also, don’t be surprised, as if anyone could, should the world no 1 blaze into round two).
Otherwise, defending champ Coco Gauff tussles her good mate and doubles specialist Taylor Townsend; Alexandre Muller goes at Stefanos Tsitsipas; and Daniil Medvedev, not long since double-bagelled by Mario Berrettini, begins his campaign against Adam Walton. Then if, to that, we add Jacob Fearnley v Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Ana Kalinskaya v Loïs Boisson and Felix Auger-Aliassime v Daniel Altmaier, along with Marin Cilic, Madison Keys, Jess Pegula, Sascha Bublik and Learner Tien, we have a frankly ridiculous day of stuff that isn’t whatever we’re meant to be doing.
Chauette! On y va!