Key events
On Lenglen, Gea has gone off for a bathroom break – it seems he’s an upset stomach – with Khachnov poised to serve at 4-2 in the first. Meantime, Selekhmetova breaks Kostyuk immediately in set two to trail 2-6 1-0.
Kostyuk is one of those players I think can push into the top 10. She struggled with pressure earlier in her career, but has worked hard on herself and now looks ready to exploit her prodigious technical skill and athletic prowess. She does, though, have Swiatek in her eighth – the two are seeded to meet in round four – and there are some decent players standing between her and that, Leylah Fernandez and Jelena Ostapenko among them.
Kostyuk doesn’t convert, but then, on game point, Selekhmeteva misses a pass she ought to have made, and from there the set is taken from here. Kostyuk leads 6-2.
OK, Selekhmeteva – who I can’t say I’ve seen play before, so that’s exciting – nabs back a break off Kostyuk, but then finds herself down set point, on serve. Though she’s found her lefty game the last few minutes, she’s got to be more consistent and take more risks to tax a player as good as her opponent. Gosh, and a seventh double of the game means she’s now down advantage.
So what matches to watch? Let’s start with Karen Khachanov, the no 13 seed, who leads Arthur Gea, a qualifier, 4-0; Marta Kostyuk (15), who leads Oksana Selekhmeteva 5-1; and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s tussle with Damir Dzumhur, currently 3-4 on serve.
Preamble
Salut et bienvenue à Roland-Garros 20126 – jour un! Notre été starts here, and it’s going to be a jazzer – or, to keep on theme, le jazzeur.
It’s fair to say we’ve a strong idea of how the men’s tournament might resolve, but the fun in getting there means we can ignore the inevitability for now and the women’s even promises a royal rumble for the ages. The top four seeds will fancy their chances: Aryna Sabalenka is the best player in the world; Iga Swiatek is a four-time winner who’d won three in a row prior to last year; Coco Gauff is the defending champ; and Elena Rybakina is on the surge, at one with her easy power.
And of course there’s a cast of other brilliant players – Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina, Victoria Mboko, Karolína Muchova, Naomi Osaka and others – good enough to sort any of them on a good day. Or, in other words, we’re talking about what is now the most competitive, highest-level sport in the world.
So it’s no surprise that today’s likeliest classic comes on the women’s side, where Hailey Baptiste, the no 26 seed, meets Barbora Krejcikova, the winner in 2021 – and at Wimbledon in 2024. But that is not the size of things. Taylor Fritz’s meeting with Nishesh Basavareddy looks tasty, Alexander Zverev meets Benjamin Bonzi, Francesca Jones takes on Bea Haddad Maia, and Emma Raducanu, Mirra Andreeva and João Fonseca all get under way.
Alors on y va!