A troika of late thirty-something men displayed their skills. Two of them – Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka – in the first of the evening matches on centre court.
Me time
The Italian Lorenzo Sonego was full, full, full of himself after beating the French number one Ugo Humbert and the French fans watching the match on Court Suzanne Lenglen. The 29-year-old saw off the 17th seed 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 49 minutes to the chagrin of the partisans. "I really enjoyed the atmosphere," said Sonego who reached the last-16 at the French Open in 2023. "I tried to put every bit of energy into the court," he added. "I was really focused on my tennis, nothing about the crowd or the people outside. Yeah, I was really happy for my game."
Just in time
The new roof over Court Suzanne Lenglen – the second show court at the Roland Garros Stadium – was inaugurated in the morning on Day 1. The work of "starchitect" Dominique Perrault, it came in handy straight away. The heavens opened during the afternoon but play between local hero Richard Gasquet and Borna Coric from Croatia continued. Nice touch here, the roof has been constructed to resemble the pleats in the skirts worn by Suzanne Lenglen – La Divine as she was dubbed – during her pomp on the tennis courts of the world in the 1920s.
One more time
Well at least Gasquet pumped up the patriotic volume. Under the closed roof, the 37-year-old dispatched Coric 7-6, 7-6, 6-4 to reach the second round at his 21st French Open. Before the encounter, Gasquet, the world number 124, told the Roland Garros daily newspaper that thoughts of retirement came and went. "I'm just trying to play and win matches," he admitted. "And to have fun on the court. I see how I am after each tournament – the results and how my body feels – so it's a lot of things to take into account. At least I'm still standing so I want to make the most of it."
How many times?
Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray – six Grand Slam tournaments between them – at 39 and 37 respectively – did battle on Day 1 for the 23rd time in 19 years. Their first meeting was a Davis Cup tie at the Palexpo in Geneva in September 2005. Stan and a player called Roger Federer helped the Swiss to a 5-0 win in the tie against Great Britain. Wawrinka won number 23 in straight sets to move into the second round. With his success and that of Richard Gasquet over Borna Coric, admirers of the single-handed backhand will have another chance to flutter their eyes and coo over two of the best exponents of art. Gasquet's is a dashing turn with a rapier thrust while Wawrinka possesses a stroke of savage beauty. The review still remembers the backhand winner down the line on match point in the 2015 final against Novak Djokovic. That ball moved.
Laud
Just after Caroline Garcia from France had dispatched the young German Eva Lys, the French Open tournament director Amélie Mauresmo and Gilles Moretton, the boss of the French tennis federation, came onto centre court to present a trophy to the former player Jérémy Chardy to hail his career. Chardy was absolutely beaming when he came out onto the court. Those gathered were shown videos of Chardy man and boy. The 37-year-old Frenchman retired last year with one ATP singles tournament win and seven doubles titles. "It's a year since I stopped playing," he said. "Thank you to the federation for doing this. I'm very moved. I'd like to thank all my coaches and also all of the spectators who have helped me to have such wonderful emotions on the courts here at Roland Garros."
