We’re into the second week of Roland Garros and the excitement is palpable as the draws get smaller.
After a fairly routine Day 8, which saw four-time champion Iga Swiatek knocked out by 15th seed Marta Kostyuk, 26th seed Jakub Mensik take down 11th seed Andrey Rublev and 28th seed João Fonseca beat 15th seed and two-time finalist Casper Ruud, two 19th seeds fell to lower ranked opponents on Day 9.
There was also a bit of history on the second Monday on Court Philippe-Chatrier which featured a women’s match in the night session for the first time in three years.
Madison Keys
Keys was the last American standing in the women’s draw when she took to court to face Diana Shnaider in the fourth round. Last year’s quarter-finalist, whose performances improved with each passing round, conceded the first set before restoring some balance in the second to take the match into a decider. The 31-year-old American was unable to maintain the momentum in the third set after Shnaider dialed up the aggression in ruthless style en route to closing out the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. After far-from-ideal preparations coming into Paris – food poisoning in Madrid last month – a last-16 showing is par for the 19th seed. Keys, who has a few grass-court titles to her name, is a two-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist. There is no reason to believe she cannot better that this year.
Naomi Osaka
Osaka has been the talk of this year’s French Open for her couture walk-on looks, but her tennis on the red brick has also caught the eye. After cruising through her opening two rounds in straight sets, the four-time Grand Slam champion and 16th seed was made to work against 17th seeded-American Iva Jovic in the third round – Osaka digging deep to win in three sets. Her fourth-round match against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka was given night-session billing on Day 9 and for a set-and-a-half the contest delivered. With the two big hitters going blow for blow from the baseline, Sabalenka’s consistency eventually saw the Belarusian close out the match 7-6, 6-4 in one hour and 50 minutes. If Osaka’s run to her first fourth round in Paris is anything to go by, her performances in the coming weeks could bear even more fruit on the grass.
Frances Tiafoe
Tiafoe has been in the trenches in Paris this year. Prior to his fourth-round match against Matteo Arnaldi, the American 19th seed had played 14 sets in total – four in round one followed by five-setters in rounds two and three. The encounter against the Italian, inevitably, was another five-setter. After exchanging two tiebreak sets, Tiafoe seemed in control after taking the third for a two-sets-to-one lead. He was up an early break in the fourth and served for the match at 5-4 but never saw a match point. Arnaldi, smelling blood, pounced eventually closing out the set to take the match into a decider. Tiafoe, understandably, looked demoralised in the fifth and went down an early break before Arnaldi went on to seal victory 7-6, 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in five hours and 26 minutes. This defeat coupled with how wide open the draw is, will hurt Big Foe for a while. But the American has shown a different type of match toughness this fortnight that should serve him well for the rest of the year.