French Open 2021: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram both win
Britain’s Jamie Murray reaches the French Open doubles third round with Bruno Soares, while Joe Salisbury seals his place in the second round.
Britain’s Jamie Murray reaches the French Open doubles third round with Bruno Soares, while Joe Salisbury seals his place in the second round.
Top seed Novak Djokovic produces another strong performance to reach the third round of the French Open for a 16th consecutive year.
Lewis Hamilton says the backlash tennis star Naomi Osaka has received following her withdrawal from the French Open is “ridiculous”.
Matteo Berrettini completed his 20th match win of the year (20-5 record) on Thursday for a place in the Roland Garros third round for the third time.
The ninth-seeded Italian raced past Argentina’s Federico Coria 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in just under two hours. Berrettini hit 46 winners, securing 82 per cent of his first-service points (42/51) and winning 81 per cent of his net points (25/31).
“I knew that I could beat him,” said Berrettini. I stepped [onto court] knowing that I could hurt him tennis-wise. I was serving well, playing aggressive. Everything was working pretty fine.
Berrettini, one of seven Italian men in the second round in Paris, is now 13-3 on clay this year, since returning from a hernia/groin injury. He captured his fourth ATP Tour title at the Serbia Open (d. Karatsev) in April and also reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final in May, finishing runner-up at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Zverev).
The 25-year-old will next challenge compatriot Andreas Seppi, winner over Canadian 20th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round, or Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea.
After struggling with injury last year, Berrettini now feels he is in a better place on and off the court, with Thursday’s victory a further boost.
“I wasn’t in the best place on my career [last year],” said Berrettini. “I had a lot of injuries. It wasn’t an easy year for anyone. So, when I struggle, I struggle. When I’m happy, I’m happy. But before it was a little bit too dark. I have to work, and I’m proud of what I have done. Now I’m really looking forward to playing [the] next tournaments, next matches, because at the end now I feel I’m back again.”
Follow Live Scores At RolandGarros.com
Elsewhere, 10th-seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman comfortably overcame Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 21 minutes. The 28-year-old, who reached the Roland Garros semi-finals last year (l. to Nadal), improves to a 13-10 record on the season.
Schwartzman’s reward is a third-round meeting with German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who knocked out Russian 24th seed Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 in three hours and two minutes. Before his first-round victory over Fernando Verdasco, Kohlschreiber had not won a match at ATP Tour level since February 2020 (d. Safwat) at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The 37-year-old hit 29 winners and won 76 per cent of first-service points against Australian Open semi-finalist Karatsev, who is now 22-9 for the season that includes the Dubai title (d. Harris).
World number one Ashleigh Barty retires with injury from her second-round match against Magda Linette at the French Open.
Roger Federer is back, and he’s fielding your questions. The 39-year-old Swiss recently sat down with ATPTour.com in Geneva to answer fan questions ahead of his Roland Garros campaign.
He covered a lot of ground including which Federer is better, the 2006 version or the 2017 version?
“Somehow I’ll pick ‘06 instead of ‘17 even though in ‘17 [I was] more experienced…” Federer said. “But probably I was a little bit of a better mover in ‘06.”
When asked who his favourite WTA player is, the Swiss chose his compatriot Belinda Bencic. The duo won the Hopman Cup together in 2018 and 2019.
“She’s my best friend on the women’s tour, having played all the Hopman Cups with her, she’s been the best partner,” Federer said. “Hopefully, we can partner up again at the Olympics.”
Federer also gave shout outs to Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Serena Williams.
Follow Live Scores At RolandGarros.com
His favourite hobby shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“It’s all about my children really,” Federer said. “Being a dad, being there for them. I like building Lego so that’s been a bit of a hobby of mine during the lockdowns. It was easy to sit down and take time to build a Harry Potter castle. That was some hard work there.
”
He was pressed more on the topic though, as he answered who is easier to parent, the boys or the girls. Federer has two twins, 11-year-olds Myla and Charlene and seven-year-olds Leo and Lenny.
“I’d say right now the girls, but it hasn’t always been like this,” Federer said. “I think it depends on the daily mood. There are some serious mood swings going on from time to time, so it’s a battle but it’s a good one.”
As for whether or not coaching is in Federer’s future, it’s only going to be on his specific terms.
“I don’t have much interest to be coaching [on tour],” he said. “I would rather coach juniors and youngsters coming up. I would mentor them.”
Federer has shared a practice court with plenty of up-and-comers including #NextGenATP stars Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
“I really enjoy practising with the young guys,” Federer said. “Also welcoming them to the tour. Novak [Djokovic], Rafa [Nadal], everyone does the same, which I think is wonderful actually.”
Federer, playing in just his third tournament of 2021, is into the second round of Roland Garros, where he will face 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
Don’t look now, but Daniil Medvedev has a chance to clinch No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings at Roland Garros. And he doesn’t need to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires to do it.
Coming into the clay-court major, it was known that Medvedev had a mathematical chance of becoming the 27th player to reach World No. 1. But given that the Russian had never won a round at Roland Garros in four prior attempts, the discussion seemed more academic than grounded in reality.
But once current No. 1 Novak Djokovic was drawn in the same half as 13-time champion Rafael Nadal, Medvedev’s stock rose as the Serb’s path to the final became tougher.
On day one, Dominic Thiem, who reached two consecutive finals in Paris in 2018-19, crashed out in the first round, throwing the bottom half of the draw even wider open. Then, Medvedev, treating the terre battue more like hard court, claimed his first Roland Garros win over Alexander Bublik and backed that up Wednesday with a four-set win over Tommy Paul to move into the third round.
The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion, who is the only player on the bottom half of the draw who has made multiple Grand Slam finals (2019 US Open, 2021 Australian Open), is now eyeing a run all the way to the final, which might be good enough for him to replace Djokovic at No. 1.
If Medvedev reaches the final and Djokovic does not make the championship match, the Russian will become the first player outside the Big Four (Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray) to reach tennis’ pinnacle since Andy Roddick in November 2003. If Medvedev wins his first Grand Slam title in Paris, he will ascend to World No. 1 regardless of Djokovic’s performance.
On 15 March, Medvedev moved to World No. 2 for the first time, breaking the Big Four’s stranglehold on the top two spots. Before Medvedev, the last player outside the Big Four to hold a place in the top two was Lleyton Hewitt in July 2005.
For now, the Russian will be focussed on his third-round match Friday against 32nd seed Reilly Opelka.
Djokovic, who fell to Nadal in last year’s final, is on the same half of the draw as the 13-time champion and in the same quarter as 20-time major winner Federer. It is possible the Serbian will have to go through both to advance to the final.
The highest-seeded player besides Medvedev on the bottom half of the draw is fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, with whom he shares the bottom quarter. If the Greek star claims his maiden major crown this fortnight, he will climb to World No. 3 if Nadal does not reach the final. The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion is at a career-high World No. 5.
View the history of World No. 1s in the FedEx ATP Rankings
A men’s doubles pair due to compete at the French Open have tested positive for Covid-19, organisers say.
Big servers John Isner and Reilly Opelka were among four Americans who charged into the third round of Roland Garros Wednesday in a long-overdue run of good form in Paris from American men. The last time at least four American men advanced to the third round was in 1996, when six survived the second round.
Isner fired down 23 aces to defeat Serbian Filip Krajinovic in straight sets, 7-6(6), 6-1, 7-6(5).
“I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just want to go out and play free and try to play loose and be happy with the result either way. That’s what I have done very, very well this year,” Isner said. “The times that I have lost this year I have been happy. I have been fine. I slept fine that night, and that’s the mentality I’m taking.”
The World No. 34 was in ruthless serving form, winning 91 per cent of his first-serve points and saving all three of the break points he faced in the match. Isner will next meet fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-2 in their head-to-head.
Opelka also moved on, converting five of his seven break points against Jaume Munar to win 6-3 6-2 3-6 7-5. Opelka, normally known for his big serving, was able to break Munar’s serve five times in the match, hitting 61 winners along the way while his opponent only managed 18.
“I’m excited. I’m thrilled. I’ve only been in the third round [at a Grand Slam] once before in Wimbledon,” Opelka said. “My body was in much worse condition than it is now. It’s just a testament to how hard I’ve been working in the gym. It just shows that I’m getting better.”
It was an impressive win for Opelka considering Munar is extremely comfortable on the clay. In fact, the 24-year-old Spaniard has played all 13 of his tournaments at all levels in 2021 on the surface.
Marcos Giron, the No. 84 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings, defeated Argentine Guido Pella 7-6(2), 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4 to make the third round at a major for the first time.
In the first round, Grigor Dimitrov led the Californian 6-2, 6-4, 5-1, 0/40 on Giron’s serve. But the American battled back to force a fourth set, in which the Bulgarian retired due to a back injury. Giron has had to endure physical issues of his own throughout his career, having surgery on both of his hips between 2015 and 2016, and he will next play 22nd seed Cristian Garin.
Read Feature: Why Giron’s Hip Surgeries Are ‘A Distant Memory’
The fourth American to go through on Wednesday was Steve Johnson. In the second to last match of the day, Johnson beat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 after three hours and 49 minutes.
Johnson, who also won a five-setter in the first round, hit 19 aces and converted seven of his 15 break points to reach the third round in Paris for the fourth time. He began the tournament without a tour-level win in 2021.
Mackenzie McDonald had two match points in the third-set tie-break against Garin, but the Chilean rallied for a 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-3, 8-6 victory.
Garin was unable to convert a match point of his own at 6-5 in the fifth, but managed to make good on his second attempt a few games later, ending a battle that lasted more than four hours.
Tommy Paul made an early push to join his fellow Americans in the third round when he took the first set against Daniil Medvedev. But the second-seeded Russian rebounded strongly to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
Could Daniil Medvedev be growing fond of the clay at Roland Garros?
Much has been made of the second seed’s lack of previous success in Paris, but Medvedev advanced to the third round of the year’s second Grand Slam on Wednesday with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 win against American Tommy Paul.
The two-time major finalist arrived in France with an 0-4 record at Roland Garros. But Medvedev has only lost one set through two matches, and he will next play big-serving American Reilly Opelka for a spot in the fourth round.
After his first-round win against Alexander Bublik, Medvedev said, “I’m feeling that here, at least this year with this weather, with these balls, I can play like on hard courts.”
On hard courts, Medvedev often finds a “lockdown mode” in which he makes few unforced errors and frustrates his opponents. Despite a slow start against the 2015 Roland Garros boys’ singles champion, that’s exactly what Medvedev did on Wednesday inside Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Medvedev, who uncharacteristically sprayed shots in the first set, made just three unforced errors in the second to claim the momentum. Instead of falling well behind the baseline and taking risks from tough court positions, the 10-time ATP Tour titlist settled down and tested Paul’s consistency and patience.
Medvedev broke the World No. 52’s serve eight times and won 80 per cent of his first-serve points to advance after two hours and 18 minutes.
The World No. 2’s next opponent, Opelka, battled past Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 earlier in the day. The 32nd seed had never won a match at Roland Garros before this week.
“Medvedev [is] one of the best returners in the world,” Opelka said.
Their clash promises to be a tight one. Medvedev leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but all three of their clashes have gone the distance. This will be their first meeting on clay.