It's not easy playing at night time, said Novak Djokovic after winning and staying out of trouble while Stefanos Tsitsipas took the game to the next level.
We talking cley lines?
Stefanos Tsitsipas phased into a translucent zone following his straight sets win over Roberto Caballes Baena. Commenting on the speedy efficiency of the teams that sweep and water the court at the end of a set, Tsitsipas remarked: “It's a great feeling when you step out on a newly made clay court that is clean. All the lines are perfect. It makes for a very pleasing visual experience.” Probably as cheering as seeing the sets clock up in your favour. The 24-year-old Greek mystic added: “But there's also beauty when the courts are dirty and messed up and you can see all of the footwork and effort and you have a visual of how much work has been put in in order for you to succeed in what you do. It's a spiritual type of surface." Stay with us, Stefanos. Stay with us.
Avoidance schemes
Two days after braving a fiercely partisan crowd and disposing of the local hero Benoit Paire, the Briton Cameron Norrie was up against another Frenchman in the shape of 29-year-old Lucas Pouille. A few years ago, Pouille seemed destined for interesting things but it didn’t quite happen. For this year's French Open, Pouille came through three rounds of qualifiers showing flashes of the form that kept him in the top 30 between July 2016 and January 2020. He beat Jurij Rodionov in the first round to set up a date with Norrie who was just too strong for him despite the best efforts of the spectators on Court Suzanne Lenglen to unruffle him. “It’s nice to see Lucas back and I'm happy to be sharing the court with him,” said Norrie after the straight sets victory. After the applause for such munficence had subsided, Norrie added: “Great atmosphere … Sorry for taking out another Frenchman.” They did cheer eventually.
Spleen de Caroline
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia took the opening set against the Russian Anna Blinkova to the delight of the cheering thousands on centre court where the Frenchwoman had won her first round match on Monday. But from a break up in the second set, the 29-year-old local heroine collapsed. She did show some guts to fight off eight match points. “I know what I have to do on court,” Garcia rued. “But then I get afraid that I will not make it, that I will fail in carrying out my game plan.” Hey, Stefanos.
Joyful noise
“It's a very special day for me,” beamed Anna Blinkova after seeing off the sadly disjointed Caroline Garcia. The 24-year-old Muscovite entered the tournament ranked 56th in the world. “I will probably never forget it," she gushed. "Also, because … 7-5 in the third, having so many match points and I finally did it. It's an unbelievable feeling.” Blinkova’s into the third round for the second time in this her fourth visit to Paris. She’ll play Elina Svitolina from Ukraine. She is wife of French favourite Gael Monfils and has been quite outspoken about the participation of Russians and Belarusians on the circuit since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022. This one is ripe for a night match.
Listening time
Organisers really aren’t having anything to do with equality at the moment. For the third night on the trot, the centre court night match featured a tie from the men’s draw. This time it was the third seed Novak Djokovic against Marton Fucsovics. Djokovic conceded the night time conditions made it difficult to control his shots. But he won in straight sets and, as victor, was offered a pen to sign on one of the cameras. After his first round success, Djokovic scribbled a message mentioning the unrest in Kosovo. Words have been said behind the scenes to the Djokovic industrial complex and this time the 36-year-old Serb simply daubed his autograph over the camera. Can't go far wrong with that. The organisers are going wrong on the bias towards the men's game for the night time slots. The review will forgive all though with Svitolina v Blinkova on Night 6.
