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The rain did not dampen all the action in Paris. The main event at Roland Garros was cancelled on Wednesday due to persistent rain, so Fabian Marozan did not play against Grigor Dimitrov either, but the match went ahead as planned on the two indoor centre courts of the tennis stadium. In the first round, Stefanos Tsitsipas, who bid farewell to Marton Fucsovich, defeated German player Altmaier in four sets at the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium, while local favourite Caroline Garcia was eliminated by Philippe Chatrier.
In the afternoon, former world number one and two-time GS champion Carlos Alcaraz came to the biggest venue and his encounter with Jesper De Jong, who came from the qualifiers and defeated Draper in the first round, exceeded expectations. The world-class Spaniard confidently won the first two sets, but the Dutchman was shocked in the third set. In the fourth set, Alcaraz’s will prevailed again and he won the match in four consecutive sets in more than three hours.
We didn’t go far after that, staying in the Chatrier. Iga Swiatek, the reigning champion and the top of the women’s world ranking, was called to play against Naomi Osaka, who had previously won four Grand Slams but had been away from the sport in recent years. In the first match, it was clear that Swiatek had found her match in the announced match of the day, with Osaka returning almost every ball and the Pole making many mistakes compared to her level.
The two sides won seven points in this short match, and in the end Swiatek’s will prevailed, while Osaka only won one point, giving the Polish team the advantage. Although the end of the first set was one-sided, the Japanese team dominated the rest of the game. He had always been expected to eliminate his opponent in one set, but Swiatek barely managed to get a crane, and finally lost to Osaka 6:1. After that, the Polish world No. 1’s momentum weakened more and more, Osaka imposed her will on her opponent, and Swiatek had no answer.
Photo: Getty Images
The Pole played bluntly and made a lot of mistakes, and the Japanese didn’t do him a favor, so Osaka took control in the decider, just like in the second set. He quickly gained the upper hand and shocked the Pole with a huge palm. The Pole did have flashes, but not enough to get him back into the match. At 5:3 in the decider, Osaka served for the victory, but he made mistakes at the most important moments: first a heavy forehand into the net, then a long shot on the break point winner, which finally broke. He beat himself in the boom and brought Swiatek back into the match.
Thanks to this, Swiatek won another game to tie the score. More typically, the players survived on each other’s mistakes rather than winning shots. In the next service game, Osaka’s mistakes increased and she made a double fault, which gave Swiatek a match point. The Polish team took advantage of the Japanese team’s hesitation and finally won the victory, dancing from the brink of elimination.
Only then did the women’s singles champion avoid an early farewell. In a crazy match, Swiatek defeated Osaka and entered the top 32.
Philippe Chatrier’s evening program will end with a battle between Richard Gasquet and the second seed, who will surely soon become world number one, Jannik Sinner. Their match will surely be a real treat for sports fans. Meanwhile, former GS champion Stan Wawrinka will officially be the slag of Suzanne Lenglen: he will advance to the third round against Swiss tennis player Pavel Kotov. In the evening, it was also decided that Thursday’s match between Fábián Marozsán and Grigor Dimitrov will be the first match on court 14 – weather permitting.
(Cover photo: Getty Images)
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