Four to watch
Court Philippe-Chatrier, first match: Coco Gauff vs Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
The weather has not only disrupted the schedule at Roland-Garros this week, it has changed the conditions. Not that Gauff, the finalist here two years ago, is bothered. She is letting most things slide by her as she keeps her focus on the task ahead – progress in Paris.
She feels that she did not play as well in her last match as in her first but hey-ho (“don’t over analyse”) and she keeps up to date with events at the tennis but she does not obsess about them (“I watch as a fan”). Better still, she beat Yastremska on clay in Madrid a few weeks ago – and it was cold and wet there, too.
Court Philippe-Chatrier, second match: Jannik Sinner vs Pavel Kotov
So far, so good. Jannik Sinner and his sore hip are cruising along nicely. He was unfazed by the vocal French crowd on Wednesday night as he beat Richard Gasquet and he expected no less of the Court Philippe Chatrier spectators: this is Paris and Gasquet is one of their favourites.
Better still, there was no sign of the hip problem he has been dealing with for the past month. The injury may not be completely healed but it is certainly manageable, which is good news as he takes on Kotov. The world No.56 played lights-out to beat Cameron Norrie in the first round and backed that up with a late-night thriller, beating Stan Wawrinka in four sets on Wednesday night.
Court Suzanne-Lenglen, second match: Andrey Rublev vs Matteo Arnaldi
Rublev is not like other athletes. Walk into the players’ lounge at any tournament anywhere in the world and they will be talking about sport, watching sport or playing sport either in the real world or the virtual one. Especially during rain delays.
But not Andrey. He will watch the football if the World Cup is on but, really, he is not that bothered. Instead, he just concentrates on himself, his game and what he has to do next. “I’m a tennis player, so I don’t need to follow someone,” he said. “I need to focus on myself.”
It has taken him to No.6 in the world and, this week, it has seen him improve on his opening round efforts with a more assured performance on Wednesday. In Arnaldi, the world No.35, he faces a familiar foe: Rublev won their only previous encounter in straight sets last year.
Court Philippe-Chatrier, third match: Iga Swiatek vs Marie Bouzkova
The world No.1 has been playing with fire this week. More used to scything through the early stages of the draw here, she had to save a match point against Naomi Osaka on Wednesday. But more than that she voiced her frustrations at the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier (some over-enthusiastic patrons were calling out during the rallies and she didn’t like it). Everyone knows that upsetting the crowd is never wise. “I don’t know if that was a good decision or not,” she admitted a little later. After surviving her big scare of the first week, the next round should – hopefully – be a little more straightforward.